Europe gives green light to AbbVie hepatitis C drugs, others

LONDON (Reuters) - European regulators recommended approval for two drugs made by AbbVie to treat hepatitis C, both of which belong to a new generation of medicines that have proved effective in treating a condition that is the most common cause of liver transplants in Europe. Dasabuvir, known commercially as Exviera, and a combination therapy called Viekirax, gave physicians additional treatment options with high cure rates, the European Medicines Agency said on Friday. The all-oral regimens for patients infected with the virus avoided the need for interferons, which are delivered by injection, the agency said. Sanofi's eliglustat, a medicine marketed as Cerdelga to treat the rare genetic disorder type 1 Gaucher disease that was approved in the United States in August, was also given the green light in Europe. The European Medicines Agency said patients could take the drug orally, making it a convenient alternative to other treatments delivered by intravenous injection. Boehringer Ingelheim's lung-disorder drug nintedanib was also recommended for approval on Friday. The regulator gave the nod to Novartis' anti-inflammation drug secukinumab, or Cosentyx, to treat the most common form of the painful, unsightly skin condition plaque-psoriasis. Celgene's apremilast, known as Otezla, was recommended to treat both psoriatic arthritis, which is a type of arthritis associated with the skin disease psoriasis that cause joint pain, stiffness and swelling, and for moderate to severe cases of psoriasis itself. The drug was approved in the United States in March. Recommendations for marketing approval by the European Medicine Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use are usually endorsed by the European Commission within a couple of months. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young and Jane Merriman)