Serono boosted by EU decision
Serono saw its shares in demand on Wednesday following the European Union's decision to grant it 10-year exclusive marketing rights in Europe for its AIDS drug, Serostim.
The exclusivity arrangement, known as orphan status, is a new EU policy that came into effect at the beginning of the year. Its aim is to encourage the development of drugs that treat rare diseases.
Serostim is used to treat AIDS-related weight loss, a condition that is suffered by up to 30 per cent of AIDS patients.
The drug is already on the market in the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and some Latin American countries.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.