LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Healthcare regulators will decide this week whether GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK.L) controversial diabetes drug Avandia should stay on the market in Europe, following concerns about its links with heart attacks.
Some European government safety experts, including those in Britain, argue that the risks of Avandia outweigh its benefits and the medicine no longer has a place on the market.
As a result, the drug, once Glaxo's second-biggest seller, is now more likely to be withdrawn in Europe than the United States, where concerns about the drug were first raised, industry analysts believe.
The decision rests with a committee of experts drawn from various national authorities who started their latest monthly meeting at the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in London's docklands on Monday.
A announcement is expected on the afternoon of Sept. 23, at the end of the four-day meeting, an agency spokeswoman said.
Ben Hirschler writes
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