Litigation
In 2006 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified talcum powder as a possible human carcinogen if used in the female genital area. Despite this, no federal agency in the US acted to remove talcum powder from the market or add warnings.In February 2016, as the result of a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J), a St. Louis jury awarded $72 million to the family of an Alabama woman who died from ovarian cancer. The family claimed that the use of talcum powder was responsible for her cancer. In May 2016, a South Dakota woman was awarded $55 million as the result of another lawsuit against J&J. The woman had used Johnson & Johnsons Baby Powder for more than 35 years before being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2011.In October 2016, a St. Louis jury awarded $70.1 million to a Californian woman with ovarian cancer who had used Johnsons Baby Powder for 45 years.In August 2017, a Los Angeles jury awarded $417 million to a Californian woman, Eva Echeverria, who developed ovarian cancer as a  "proximate result of the unreasonably dangerous and defective nature of talcum powder", her lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson stated. On 20 October 2017, Los Angeles Superior Court judge Maren Nelson dismissed the verdict.
It was approved in the European Union in 1998, and in the US in 2002; it has since been approved in more than 90 countries worldwide including Canada and Australia. EMD Serono has had sole rights to Rebif in the US since January 2016. Rebif is administered via subcutaneous injection. Cinnovex
Cinnovex is the brand name of recombinant Interferon beta-1a, which is manufactured as biosimilar/biogeneric in Iran. It is produced in a lyophilized form and sold with distilled water for injection. Cinnovex was developed at the Fraunhofer Society in collaboration with CinnaGen, and is the first therapeutic protein from a Fraunhofer laboratory to be approved as biogeneric / biosimilar medicine. There are several clinical studies to prove the similarity of CinnoVex and Avonex. A more water-soluble variant is currently being investigated by the Vakzine Projekt Management (VPM) GmbH in Braunschweig, Germany. Plegridy
Plegridy is a brand name of a pegylated form of Interferon beta-1a. Plegridys advantage is it only needs injecting once every two weeks. Betaferon (interferon beta-1b)
Closely related to interferon beta-1a is interferon beta-1b, which is also indicated for MS, but is formulated with a different dose and administered with a different frequency. Each drug has a different safety/efficacy profile. Interferon beta-1b is marketed only by Bayer in the US as Betaseron, and outside the US as Betaferon. Economics
In the United States, as of 2015, the cost is between US$1,284 and US$1,386 per 30 mcg vial.