HEALTH : FDA OKs Drug for AIDS Anemia
From Times Wire Services
WASHINGTON —
The Food and Drug Administration today approved a drug that combats the anemia that forces some people with AIDS or AIDS-related conditions to abandon life-prolonging AZT therapy.
The drug, Epoetin alfa, which is a genetically engineered form of the kidney protein erythropoietin, stimulates the production of red blood cells. Anemia is a lack of these cells.
Amgen Inc. of Thousand Oaks, Calif., will market the drug under an agreement with Ortho Pharmaceutical of Raritan, N.J. Amgen did much of the initial work in developing erythropoietin, while Ortho sponsored the clinical trials and expanded access of the drug for AIDS patients.
Amgen will market the drug under the trade name Epogen, and Ortho will market it under the name Procrit.
