Novartis secures alternate options for Kymriah shipments after Europe travel ban

ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis (S:) has found alternate transport options for its cell therapy Kymriah to address potential disruptions from European travel restrictions ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump this week in response to the coronavirus epidemic.

The Swiss drugmaker said on Friday it does not foresee Kymriah supply issues at this time.

Novartis has been shipping immune cells from European cancer patients receiving its so-called CAR-T therapy for re-engineering at one of its laboratories in New Jersey. The modified T cells are then sent back to Europe, for re-infusion into patients.

“While we have used passenger aircraft to transport our CAR-T therapies, we have secured alternate options to mitigate potential interruption of supply at this time,” Novartis said in a statement. “We are confident that our existing manufacturing supply chain is sufficient to cover our production and distribution needs. We continue to watch the situation closely.”

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.