Saturday, February 27, 2016
Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental cocktail to treat HIV received a green light from European regulators on Friday, boosting the chances of the drug being formally approved by the European Commission.
The European Medicines Agency issued a positive opinion on the treatment, Descovy, a combination of emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide. Both drugs stop HIV from multiplying.
The company is awaiting an approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
One of Gilead's treatments for HIV, Truvada, is an approved drug to be taken in a PrEP regimen, a group of drugs recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help prevent HIV infection.
Gilead's shares rose about 1 percent to $90.89 in light premarket trading on Friday.
Europe's drug regulator also recommended approving hemophilia treatments from Biogen Inc and CSL Ltd as well as Eli Lilly & Co's psoriasis treatment. (bit.ly/1LhVgQZ)
Eli Lilly's experimental drug, ixekizumab, belongs to a new class of psoriasis treatments called IL-17 receptor antagonists. The drug will compete directly with Novartis AG's newly approved Cosentyx.
Source : reuters.com
