'Conflicted' Panel Backs AZ Gout Drug; Market Potential?

The FDA's Arthritis Advisory Committee (AAC) on Oct. 23 in a 10-4 vote recommended approval of lesinurad, an experimental drug from AstraZeneca plc and its US unit Ardea Biosciences Inc., as a treatment in combination with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI), such as allopurinol or febuxostat, for hyperuricemia associated with gout in adults.