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FDA tentatively approves child-friendly AIDS drug

    JOHANNESBURG

    The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tentatively approved the first generic oral anti-AIDS medication for children.

    Retrovir is the latest in a string of approvals for use in the US presidential plan to tackle HIV/AIDS in developing countries.

    The drug is a generic version of Zidovudine, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and copied by India-based drugmaker Aurobindo Pharma.

    Dr Murray Lumpkin, the FDA's deputy commissioner for international and special programmes, said in a statement, "Working together with colleagues in the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator, FDA is delighted to help to ensure that anti-AIDS products available to children through the President's Emergency Programme are safe and effective."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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