Approval Sought For A.I.D.S. Drug (Press, 28 January 1987)
This is a Generative AI summary of this newspaper article. It may contain errors or omissions. Please note that the language in the summary is reflective of the original article and the societal attitudes of the time in which it was written.
Summary: Approval Sought For A.I.D.S. Drug (Press, 28 January 1987)
I.C.N. Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. drug company, is seeking to distribute its anti-AIDS drug, ribavirin, with plans to have it available for general use within months, according to company chairman Milan Panic. The firm has submitted a preliminary application to the United States Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) for limited distribution of ribavirin by the U.S. Government, and Mr Panic indicated that they hope to receive clearance within two to four weeks. A more comprehensive application for general use is set to be submitted in March, which could take three to six months for approval. In addition to the U.S. application, I.C.N. plans to pursue the drug's approval in other countries almost immediately. The F.D.A. has recently authorised selective distribution of another AIDS drug, A.Z.T., produced by Borroughs Wellcome, which is a subsidiary of the London-based Wellcome P.L.C. Roberts Smith, a director at I.C.N. and a biochemistry professor involved in ribavirin's development, noted that the F.D.A. would prioritise the company's application, although he cautioned that approval was not guaranteed. On January 9, I.C.N. announced positive results from tests conducted on 163 patients experiencing lymphadenopathy, a preliminary infection of the lymph nodes caused by the HIV virus. However, the company faced criticism from American AIDS patient and research organisations for potentially raising false hopes with inconclusive test results. Ribavirin and A.Z.T. serve different purposes in the treatment of AIDS; ribavirin aims to halt the progression of the disease in individuals at early stages of infection, while A.Z.T. addresses the symptoms of AIDS without eradicating the virus itself. The World Health Organisation has reported that AIDS has claimed 38,401 lives globally, with around half of those cases resulting in death. The United States accounts for approximately three-quarters of the reported cases.
Important Information
The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact
The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand