Hospira's Retacrit gets CHMP thumbs up

USA-based Hospira, a specialty pharmaceutical company, has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's (EMEA) Committee for Medicinal Product for Human Use (CHMP), recommending approval for its anemia treatment Retacrit (epoetin zeta).

The drug, which is intended to treat anemia associated with both chronic renal failure and chemotherapy, is a biogeneric equivalent of epoetin alfa. Hospira said that it expects a final EMEA approval decision before the end of the year, and intends to launch the product early next year if it does gain regulatory clearance.