Breakthrough Watch: MS Drug Could Have Other Uses

Published: Wednesday, 9 Jan 2013 | 6:17 PM ET

Acorda CEO: Medications More Economical Down the Road

Acorda Therapeutics CEO Dr. Ron Cohen discusses the phase 2 studies happening on its mobility improvement drug Ampyra, and what's next for the company.

According to Cramer, the really impressive thing about this story is that Ampyra could have multiple indications, meaning it could work on additional diseases.

Right now Acorda's conducting phase 2 studies to see if their drug could also work on people with cerebral palsya market that's twice the size of MSas well as people who suffer from chronic strokes, which is a gigantic market, 7 million people in the United States alone.

"These additional indications are still in the early stages of being studied, so it's a high risk proposition, but if they work out then the rewards could be enormous," said Cramer.

Acorda also has a fairly robust pipeline.

Health care

The company's working on a nasal spray version of diazepamthe generic name for valiumto help people with epilepsy, and the company expects to file its new drug application on this one sometime in 2013.

"They've also got a intriguing projects that are still in very early phase one development, but could ultimately pay off many years down the road," Cramer explained. "This company is making people's lives better," he added. "The stock makes sense to me. But wait for a pullback."

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Breakthrough Watch: MS Drug Could Have Other Uses