Dow Jones --A Food and Drug Administration panel backed the use of Merck & Co.'s (MRK) hepatitis C drug boceprevir, calling the product a game-changing advance in the treatment of the disease.

The panel of non-FDA medical experts voted 18-0 in favor of a question that asked whether the available data support approval of the product in combination with other hepatitis C drugs, pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The vote amounts to a recommendation that the agency approve boceprevir, which Merck has proposed selling under the brand name Victrelis.