Ahead Of The Bell: Acorda Surges On MS Drug Review

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Acorda Therapeutics Inc. skyrocketed in premarket trading Thursday after a Food and Drug Administration panel released a positive review of Acorda's drug candidate Fampridine-SR, increasing the chances the multiple sclerosis treatment will be approved for sale.

By a 12 to 1 vote, the panel said studies show the drug improved walking in people with MS, Acorda said late Wednesday. In a 10 to 2 vote, the panel said the difference is clinically meaningful and that Fampridine-SR is safe for use. In premarket trading, Acorda shares climbed $8.73, or 52.2 percent, to $25.47. The shares closed at $16.74 on Tuesday.

The FDA is scheduled to make a decision on Fampridine-SR by Oct. 22. The agency is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory panels, but it often does so.

The peripheral and central nervous system drug committee also voted that Acorda should be required to run additional studies on a lower dose of the drug. The Hawthorne, N.Y., company said it would be allowed to perform those studies after FDA approval, so they would not keep Fampridine-SR off the market.