AEGiS-Reuters: Gilead says FDA approves HIV-fighting drug Viread

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Gilead says FDA approves HIV-fighting drug Viread

Reuters NewMedia - Friday October 26, 2001

Foster City, Calif., Oct 26 (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Gilead Sciences Inc. (NasdaqNM:GILD - news) announced on Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Viread, a new type of AIDS medicine that could help patients who have developed resistance to other therapies.

Gilead, based in Foster City, California, said approval for the antiretroviral agent applies to treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection when taken in combination with other antiretroviral agents.

Viread is dosed as a single once-a-day-tablet and will be available in pharmacies within days, the company said in a statement. The drug works by blocking reverse transcriptase, an enzyme involved in the replication of HIV.

More than 900,000 Americans are infected with HIV. Each year, 350,000 receive anti-HIV treatment regimens and an estimated 15,000 new patients begin treatment. Over years of treatment with existing agents, however, multiple factors can lead to the development of viral mutations that render patients' HIV resistant to currently available medications.
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