Glaxo files Promacta drug for U.S. approval

LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) said on Thursday it had filed its experimental platelet-boosting drug Promacta, or eltrombopag, for approval in the United States.

The submission to the Food and Drug Administration had been expected this month. The company said last week it would file Promacta for the short-term treatment of patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura within days.

Eltrombopag -- which will also be sold under the brand name Revolade, if approved -- is one of several novel drugs in Glaxo's pipeline which the group believes have blockbuster potential.

It was discovered as a result of a research collaboration between Glaxo and Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc (LGND.O).

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler)