Pfizer's HIV Drug Gets FDA Nod

Pfizer(PFE) said Monday that the Food and Drug Administration approved its new type of HIV medication, called Selzentry.

Known as maraviroc in development, Selzentry represents the first new class of pills for HIV treatment in more than 10 years, Pfizer said. It should be available in the U.S. by mid-September.

The FDA approved Selzentry as part of a combination therapy in patients for whom traditional drugs no longer work.

"There is a profound need for new medicines to treat HIV," said Dr. Joseph Feczko, the company's chief medical officer, in a prepared statement. "In the United States, thousands of patients living with HIV are running out of effective medications that can control their virus."

Shares of Pfizer were up 51 cents, or 2.2%, to $24.02 in Monday afternoon trading.

Although analysts had expected Selzentry to be approved, they weren't sure of the timing. In April, a panel of outside advisers to the FDA unanimously endorsed the drug.

In June, however, Pfizer received only conditional support from the FDA. Pfizer didn't reveal the conditions that had to be met -- or a timetable -- other than to say it was working on the wording of the drug's label.

Selzentry works by blocking HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, from entering white blood cells. Other HIV pills try to fight the virus once it has entered the cells.