Roche's CellCept Approved For Liver Transplants

NUTLEY, NJ (Reuters)

Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. said Wednesday that it has received marketing clearance from U.S. federal regulators for expanded use of CellCept to prevent organ rejection in liver transplant patients.

CellCept was originally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1995 for use with cyclosporine and corticosteroids, to prevent organ rejection in kidney transplant patients. The drug is also used in heart transplant patients.

"There are more than 16,000 people on the waiting list for a liver transplant, and numbers are increasing rapidly," said Dr. Eddy Anglade, Medical Director, Transplantation, Roche Laboratories. "Having another drug in the liver transplant arsenal is important news for the transplant community."

Hoffmann-La Roche is a unit of Roche Holding Ltd.

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This article posted August 16, 2000.