Written for dermatologists by dermatologists. Indexed by the US National Library of Medicine.

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Update on Drugs and Drug News - Number 6 1998

Class	Name/Company	Approval Dates and Comments
Anti-HIV	Famciclovir Famvir® SmithKline Beecham	Approved by the US FDA June 1998 for the treatment of recurrent herpes simplex virus infections in HIV-infected patients. Famciclovir was previously approved for the treatment or suppression of recurrent genital herpes and the treatment of herpes zoster in immunocompetent patients.
Antiherpes	Acyclovir sodium Zovirax® Glaxo Wellcome	Approved by the US FDA June 1998 for the supplemental indication of treatment of herpes simplex virus infections in neonatal patients
Antipsoriatic	Calcipotriol Dovonex® Leo	Canadian approval was granted recently for the new indication of topical treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis in children aged two years and older.
Erythema nodosum leprosum	Thalidomide 50 mg Thalomid® Celgene	Approved by the US FDA July, 1998 to treat ENL. No one can prescribe it or take it without participating in a safety program. Women of childbearing age must take repeated pregnancy tests and use two forms of contraception during treatment. Recommended dosage is 100 to 300 mg/day once daily. Reviewed in Skin Therapy Letter, Volume 3, Number 3.
Male-pattern hair-loss	Finasteride 1mg tablets Propecia® Merck	Finasteride has been approved in Canada for the treatment of male-pattern hair loss. It was approved for this indication by the US FDA in December, 1997.

Aids vaccine to enter phase III clinical trial
Aids vaccine Aidsvax® VaxGen Inc.	Given approval by the US FDA July, 1998 to undergo phase III evaluation for use in the prevention of AIDS. The trial will take three years to complete and will recruit 5000 US and 2500 Thai patients.

Drug Warning
Indinavir Crixivan® Merck	Four per cent of HIV-1 patients ( 42 affected ) being treated with indinavir presented with paronychia of the great toes, suggesting a possible link between hypertrophic paronychia and treatment with protease inhibitors. Bouscarat F, Bouchard C, Bouhour D. New Eng J Med 1998; 338: 1998.

Calcipotriene ointment is unstable with some other topical preparations
Calcipotriene 0.005% Dovonex® ointment Bristol-Myers Squibb	Calcipotriene ointment degraded when mixed with hydrocortisone-17-valerate ointment 0.2%, ammonium lactate lotion and salicylic acid 6%, but was compatible with halobetasol proprionate ointment and cream 0.05% and a tar gel. Patel B, Siskin S, Krazmien R et al. Compatibility of calcipotriene with other topical medications. J Am Acad Dermatol 1998; 38: 1010-1.