Content about Antiretroviral drugs

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Drug maker Gilead Sciences has submitted a regulatory approval application to the Food and Drug Administration for a drug designed to increase the blood levels of certain drugs for HIV.

PITTSBURGH — A generic antiretroviral drug for treating HIV infection has won approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Mylan announced Wednesday the approval of nevirapine tablets in the 200-mg strength. The drug is a generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim's Viramune. Mylan plans to begin shipping the drug immediately.

Various versions of the drug had sales of $116.6 million during the 12-month period ended in March, according to IMS Health.

PITTSBURGH — The Food and Drug Administration has given tentative approval to a division of Mylan for a generic drug for treating HIV and AIDS in children in developing countries.

Mylan said Thursday that the FDA had tentatively approved Mylan Labs' abacavir sulfate and lamivudine tablets in the 60 mg/30 mg strength. The drug is a generic version of Viiv Healthcare's Epzicom and was approved under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The drug will only be available for purchase in certain developing countries outside the United States.

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a lower-dose formulation of a drug made by Gilead Sciences for treating HIV in children, the company said.

Gilead announced the FDA approval of Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) in the 150-mg, 200-mg and 250-mg strengths combined with other antiretroviral drugs in patients ages 6 to 12 years while also approving an oral powder formulation for children ages 2 to 5 years. The agency approved the drug in the 300-mg strength for adults in 2001 and for patients ages 12 to 17 years in 2010.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved an HIV drug for children and adolescents, the agency said Wednesday.

The FDA announced the approval of Merck's Isentress (raltegravir) for HIV-1 infection in patients ages 2 to 18 years. The chewable form of the drug will be available for children ages 2 to 11 years.

"Many young children and adolescents are living with HIV, and this approval provides an important additional option for their treatment," FDA Office of Antimicrobial Products director Edward Cox said.

PITTSBURGH — Under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Food and Drug Administration has given tentative approval to a generic HIV and AIDS drug made by Mylan, the company said.

The drug maker's Mylan Labs subsidiary received tentative approval for atazanavir sulfate and ritonavir tablets in the 300-mg/100-mg strength. The FDA's tentative approval of the drug under PEPFAR means it will be eligible for purchase in certain developing countries.

PITTSBURGH — Mylan subsidiary Matrix Labs has received tentative approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its new drug application of a co-packaged antiretroviral treatment under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

GURGAON, India — Ranbaxy will produce and market three HIV/AIDS drugs that currently are in late-stage clinical development by Gilead under a new licensing agreement between the drug makers.

SUPPLIER NEWS — A generic drug maker has been granted approval from the Food and Drug Administration to manufacture its version of a urinary tract infection treatment. Amneal Pharmaceuticals said that its nitrofurantoin oral suspension in the 25-mg/5-mL strength is the first-to-market generic version of Furadantin, made by Shionogi Pharma. Amneal will sell its generic in 8-oz. (230-mL) size bottles, the company said. Annual U.S. sales of nitrofurantoin oral suspension totaled $40 million for the year ended in January, according to IMS Health data.


SUPPLIER NEWS — Hi-Tech Pharmacal announced the tentative approval by the Food and Drug Administration of levofloxacin oral solution in the 25-mg/mL strength, a generic antibiotic. Levofloxacin oral solution is a generic version of Johnson & Johnson’s Levaquin, which had sales of $6 million in 2010, according to IMS Health. Hi-Tech expected to receive final approval in June, when Johnson & Johnson’s patent expires.


PITTSBURGH — A subsidiary of Mylan has won approval to sell a generic drug for HIV and AIDS in developing countries under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Mylan announced Thursday that Matrix Labs won Food and Drug Administration approval for zidovudine tablets in the 100-mg strength. The drug is a generic version of ViiV Healthcare’s Retrovir, an antiretroviral sold as a water-dispersible tablet. The drug is designed to treat HIV and AIDS in children and prevent transmission of the virus from pregnant mothers to their children.

PITTSBURGH — The Food and Drug Administration has given tentative approval to a generic drug for HIV/AIDS made by Mylan subsidiary Matrix Labs for distribution in developing countries under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Mylan said Tuesday.

The tentative approval under PEPFAR covers Matrix’s abacavir sulfate tablets in the 60-mg strength. The drug is a generic version of ViiV Healthcare’s Ziagen, and is used to treat the disease in children.