Idenix drug approved in Switzerland

Cambridge-based Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. said officials in Switzerland have approved the use of its Telbivudine oral treatment for chronic hepatitis B patients.

Telbivudine is a pill that hepatitis sufferers take once daily to prevent the virus from reproducing itself and to quell swelling of the liver. Idenix also has an application pending before the US food and Drug Administration, as well as in the European Union, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and China. The drug will be sold under the brand name Sebivo in Switzerland.
(Keith Reed, Globe staff)