'Help us,' fight drug imports, FDA urges state boards
May 19th 2003At the 99th annual meeting of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Food & Drug Administration officials urged state pharmacy boards to help the agency cope with the growing number of storefront operations facilitating illegal Rx drugs pouring into the U.S. from Canada.
New fluoroquinolone has dual activity against resistant bugs
May 5th 2003Physicians will soon have a fourth-generation fluoroquinolone with dual activity against bacteria to treat persons with community-acquired respiratory infections. The FDA recently approved gemifloxacin (Factive, GeneSoft Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis (AECB) caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, or Moraxella catarrhalis and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) of mild-to-moderate severity caused by S. pneumoniae (including penicillin-resistant strains), H. influenzae, M. catarrhalis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae, or Klebsiella pneumoniae. Gemifloxacin will be available in pharmacies by the end of the year.
New acromegaly drug first to block growth hormone receptors
April 21st 2003Physicians and their patients with acromegaly will soon have access to the first drug specifically designed to block the effects of human growth hormone. The FDA recently approved pegvisomant (Somavert, Pharmacia) for the treatment of acromegaly in patients who have had an inadequate response to surgery and/or radiation therapy and/or medical therapies, or for whom those treatments are inappropriate. Pegvisomant is the first of a new class of drugs called growth hormone receptor antagonists.
Vaginal ring treats vasomotor and local symptoms
April 21st 2003Healthcare professionals will soon be able to offer women the first vaginal estrogen product that treats both the vasomotor and vaginal symptoms of menopause. The FDA recently approved estradiol (Femring, Galen Holdings) vaginal ring for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause and treatment of moderate to severe symptoms of vulvar and vaginal atrophy associated with menopause. Femring will be available in pharmacies in June.