Tysabri Makers Find No New Brain Disease Cases

The two pharmaceutical companies that make the drug Tysabri said they had found no new cases of a rare brain disease among nearly 1,500 people who took the suspended drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. Elan Corp. of Dublin, Ireland, and Biogen Idec Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., said their screening of people who took Tysabri in clinical trials for both diseases had turned up no new cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

Elan and Biogen withdrew Tysabri from sale Feb. 28 -- after just three months on the U.S. market -- amid fears that the drug could cause the brain disease.