FDA approves Botox for loss of bladder control

U.S. drug regulators approved Allergan’s Botox for treating a specific kind of overactive bladder on Wednesday, setting the stage for wider use of the popular wrinkle treatment in those with bladder problems.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Botox can be injected into the bladder to treat those who lose bladder control because of damage to the nervous system, through conditions such as multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury.

The drug received a similar approval in Europe earlier this month.

The company will also try to gain approval to market Botox to a broader population of patients with overactive bladder, the company’s CEO David Pyott told Reuters earlier this month.

“This approval is positive as it may bode well for the eventual approval of Botox in idiopathic (of unknown cause) overactive bladder,” Leerink Swann analyst Seamus Fernandez said in a research note.

Read the full news story at  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/us-fda-allergan-idUSTRE77N5BH20110824

Source:  By Anna Yukhananov and Bill Berkrot for Reuters on August 24, 2011 at http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/us-fda-allergan-idUSTRE77N5BH20110824