AbbVie's hepatitis C treatment, part of new generation of virus fighters, gets approval in EU

Drugmaker AbbVie says its new, multipill hepatitis C treatment has been approved for patients in the 28 European Union member countries.

The company, based in North Chicago, Illinois, says the European Commission granted marketing authorization for its treatment consisting of Viekirax and Exviera.

It's already approved in Switzerland, Norway and other nonmember countries in Europe, on top of Canada and the U.S., where Viekirax is called Viekira Pak.

AbbVie's medicines are part of a new generation of hepatitis C treatments that don't require any injections, have fewer side effects and cure nearly all patients in as little as eight weeks.

Older treatments cause flu-like side effects many patients can't tolerate, require treatment for as much as a year and still barely cure half of patients with the liver-damaging disease.