Baxter's blood disorder drug gets FDA approval

(Reuters) - Drugmaker Baxter International Inc said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved its drug for treating bleeding episodes in adults with a rare bleeding disorder. The drug, Obizur, has been approved for use in patients with acquired hemophilia A, which usually affects older adults, Baxter said in a statement. The drug will be launched in the United States in the coming months and is being reviewed by European and Canadian regulators, the company said. Obizur will compete with Biogen Idec Inc's Eloctate, which was approved in June. Both the drugs are long-acting treatments. Hemophilia A is a rare blood-clotting disorder that can lead to prolonged bleeding, bruising and joint and tissue damage. It is caused by deficiency of factor VIII, a protein needed to clot the blood. The rarer form of the condition is hemophilia B, caused by deficiency to another protein, factor IX. The FDA had in March approved Biogen's hemophilia B treatment, Alprolix, a bioengineered version of factor IX. Other approved hemophilia B treatments include Baxter's Rixubis, Pfizer Inc's Benefix and CSL Behring Ltd's Mononine. Baxter's shares were up about 1 percent at $69.66 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Shailesh Kuber in Bangalore; Editing by Kirti Pandey)