Ribavirin, the cornerstone drug of Costa Mesa-based...
Ribavirin, the cornerstone drug of Costa Mesa-based ICN Pharmaceuticals, has found a new home.
In December, 1985, the 17-year-old drug became available in the United States for the first time, when the federal Food and Drug Administration approved its use as a therapy for a sometimes-fatal infant disease called respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Earlier this week , officials of Viratek, an ICN subsidiary, announced that the United Kingdom’s Department of Health and Social Security had approved the administration of ribavirin, via an aerosol spray, to treat inflammation of the bronchial tubes in children with RSV.
More than 14,000 infants and children in the United States have been treated with an aerosol form of Ribavirin since its approval here.
ICN also is trying to win FDA approval for use of ribavirin as a treatment for AIDS patients, but so far has been unable to convince the agency of the drug’s effectiveness.
FO
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