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CNN Live Today
'Daily Dose'
Aired May 16, 2003 - 11:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The FDA advisory panel has approved a new medication to treat asthma brought on by allergies, and some are calling this a major advancement in the treatment of allergies.
Our medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen checks in now with our "Daily Dose" of health news for us this morning.
How big is this news?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This would be big. If the FDA goes on to approve it, which it's expected that it would since it's gotten through this committee, it could be very big for people who suffer from allergic asthma, because it takes a whole different twist on how to treat it. Now 17 million Americans suffer from asthma. There are 5,000 deaths a year. Most of those who suffer have allergic asthma. In other words, it's caused by allergens that are in the air. This new drug is called Zolair (ph), and it acts on anti-IGE (ph) antibodies. So unlike some other treatments, it actually gets to the key underlying cause of allergic asthma.
You take a shot. You can see the shot here, every two to four weeks. It is not for children. I know many people when they hear asthma, they think of children. It is not for children. And in addition, it would be expensive. So you can bet that insurance companies are not going to let just anyone get it, because it's a very expensive drug.
HARRIS: How expensive is very expensive?
COHEN: It could be as much as $10,000 a year.
HARRIS: $10,000 a year? That's why it's not for children. What about side effects? Any side effects that we have to be worried about if this does actually hit market?
COHEN: Yes, there could be side effects, and actually, that's the reason why it's not for children, not because of the cost. We like to spend money on children. That's OK. But they didn't approve it for children, because there are concerns about safety. In the clinical trials that they did that they presented to the FDA, they found that patients were more likely to get cancer when they were on the drug, compared to patients who were given a placebo. If you take a look at the numbers, they are not huge -- .5 percent of the people who took the drug got cancer, compared to .2 percent of the people who were given a placebo.
Now while this is not a huge difference, the company, Genentech, which is marketing this drug, says many patients may ultimately have adverse effects, because this was a study. So the numbers who got cancer were very, very small. When you give it to many, many people in the community, those numbers go up.
HARRIS: Thanks, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Cohen. We'll learn some more about this new drug later on.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 16, 2003 - 11:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The FDA advisory panel has approved a new medication to treat asthma brought on by allergies, and some are calling this a major advancement in the treatment of allergies.
Our medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen checks in now with our "Daily Dose" of health news for us this morning.
How big is this news?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This would be big. If the FDA goes on to approve it, which it's expected that it would since it's gotten through this committee, it could be very big for people who suffer from allergic asthma, because it takes a whole different twist on how to treat it. Now 17 million Americans suffer from asthma. There are 5,000 deaths a year. Most of those who suffer have allergic asthma. In other words, it's caused by allergens that are in the air. This new drug is called Zolair (ph), and it acts on anti-IGE (ph) antibodies. So unlike some other treatments, it actually gets to the key underlying cause of allergic asthma.
You take a shot. You can see the shot here, every two to four weeks. It is not for children. I know many people when they hear asthma, they think of children. It is not for children. And in addition, it would be expensive. So you can bet that insurance companies are not going to let just anyone get it, because it's a very expensive drug.
HARRIS: How expensive is very expensive?
COHEN: It could be as much as $10,000 a year.
HARRIS: $10,000 a year? That's why it's not for children. What about side effects? Any side effects that we have to be worried about if this does actually hit market?
COHEN: Yes, there could be side effects, and actually, that's the reason why it's not for children, not because of the cost. We like to spend money on children. That's OK. But they didn't approve it for children, because there are concerns about safety. In the clinical trials that they did that they presented to the FDA, they found that patients were more likely to get cancer when they were on the drug, compared to patients who were given a placebo. If you take a look at the numbers, they are not huge -- .5 percent of the people who took the drug got cancer, compared to .2 percent of the people who were given a placebo.
Now while this is not a huge difference, the company, Genentech, which is marketing this drug, says many patients may ultimately have adverse effects, because this was a study. So the numbers who got cancer were very, very small. When you give it to many, many people in the community, those numbers go up.
HARRIS: Thanks, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Cohen. We'll learn some more about this new drug later on.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
