Medicine

Medicine
Gilead challenges GSK with strong HIV drug data

Gilead challenges GSK with strong HIV drug data

Gilead Sciences has thrown down a challenge to GlaxoSmithKline with good clinical trial results for an experimental HIV drug that works in the same way as the British group's successful dolutegravir. Gilead's bictegravir, another so-called integrase inhibitor drug, delivered 97 percent virus suppression, making it just as effective as GSK's product, data presented at a medical meeting in Seattle late on Monday showed. Importantly, there were no cases of resistance emerging to the new medicine in the 98-patient Phase II study and no patients discontinued treatment due to kidney problems, which can be an issue with HIV treatments.


Medicine
Actelion, being bought by J&J, says full year core net income rose 27 percent

Actelion, being bought by J&J, says full year core net income rose 27 percent

Swiss drugmaker Actelion's 2016 core net income rose 27 percent on accelerating sales of its newer medicines to treat deadly pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), it said on Tuesday. Core net income rose to 881 million Swiss francs ($877.8 million) from 693 million francs in the previous year, the company said in a statement. Sales rose 18 percent to 2.42 billion francs, in line with the 2.41 billion francs expected in a Reuters poll.