Biotechnology The US Food and Drug Administration says that an agency initiated review of the current information has determined that, while safety risks for both US biotech firm Amgen's (Nasdaq: AMGN) Nplate (romiplostim) and UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline's (LSE: GSK) and Promacta (eltrombopag) still exist, certain restrictive requirements of the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) programs are no longer necessary to ensure that the benefits of the drugs outweigh their risks. Nevertheless, the FDA will continue to monitor these drugs, used for the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenia, for safety risks. 7 December 2011