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John Stewart
|
Oct 19, 2007 - 12:01 PM
|

Drug maker producing HIV pill

Health Canada has approved the first one-a-day pill to treat HIV in adults, and the drug is being manufactured by a Mississauga pharmaceutical company.
Gilead Sciences Inc., which has its world headquarters in Foster City, California and its Canadian head offices on Mississauga Rd. N., made a joint announcement on Wednesday along with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, a partner in the endeavour.
The drug, called Atripla, is the first once-daily single tablet regimen for HIV approved in Canada for use as a stand-alone therapy or in combination with other antiretroviral drugs.
It combines two drugs - Sustiva, made by Bristol-Myers, and Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences. Truvada itself contains two Gilead anti-HIV medications.
“Atripla represents a milestone in treatment for this disease,” said Dr. Mark Wainberg, director of the McGill AIDS Centre and professor of medicine and microbiology at McGill University. “I commend the companies involved for joining forces to make Atripla the first complete three-drug regimen in a single once-daily pill.”
Atripla was developed through a joint venture between Bristol-Myers and Gilead. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July 2006 and has since become the most-prescribed treatment for patients starting HIV therapy in the U.S.
In Canada, some 60,000 people are living with HIV. There are about 2,500 new diagnoses reported each year.
jstewart@mississauga.net