...And Backs Approval Of Glaxo Wellcome's Lamivudine

On April 18, the Committee For Proprietary Medicinal Products voted in favor of recommending the approval of Glaxo Wellcome's new reverse transcriptase inhibitor Epivir (lamivudine or 3TC), as a treatment for patients with HIV infection. Lamivudine has already been approved for sale as Epivir in the USA and as 3TC in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

GW believes that lamivudine will eventually replace Retrovir (zidovudine) as the cornerstone of clinical practice, particularly now that the impressive results achieved with the combination of Retrovir and lamivudine, and the triple combination of Retrovir, lamivudine and Merck & Co's protease inhibitor Crixivan (indinavir), have become available (Marketletters passim).

GW submitted the marketing dossier for lamivudine, which is licensed from Bio-Chem Pharma of Canada, in July 1995.