Glaxo, Roche, J&J and others score backing on big day for EU regulator

Friday, the EU's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended 11 new drugs for a variety of diseases--the most nods it's given in a single meeting all year. Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) picked up an endorsement for Invokana, a Type 2 diabetes drug the FDA approved in March. Gilead Sciences ($GILD) gained backing for Vitekta to treat adults with HIV-1, another notch on the belt of its world-leading HIV franchise. GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) won a positive recommendation for its respiratory med Relvar Ellipta for both asthma and COPD, while Roche ($RHHBY) picked one up for breast cancer treatment Kadcyla. Other nods went to Novo Nordisk ($NVO) for its hemophilia therapy NovoEight, Otsuka's Abilify Maintena for schizophrenia, and Algeta and Bayer's Xofigo for prostate cancer, among others. News | More