Bristol Myers Squibb : Myers, Acceleron Get EU Approval for Reblozyl

By Colin Kellaher

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Acceleron Pharma Inc. on Friday said the European Commission approved their anemia drug Reblozyl in a pair of transfusion-dependent indications.

The companies said the approval covers the treatment of adults with transfusion-dependent anemia due to very low-, low- and intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes with ring sideroblasts, who had an unsatisfactory response or are ineligible for erythropoietin-based therapy.

The commission also approved Reblozyl for adults with transfusion-dependent anemia associated with beta thalassemia.

Bristol-Myers and Acceleron said Reblozyl is the first and only erythroid maturation agent approved in the European Union, representing a new class of therapy for eligible patients.

Celgene, which Bristol-Myers acquired last year, and Acceleron, a Cambridge, Mass., biopharmaceutical company, formed a collaboration in 2011 to co-develop Reblozyl.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]