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

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Update on Drugs and Drug News - Number 3 1999

Class	Name/Company	Approval Dates and Comments
Antiviral	Imiquimod Aldara® Cream 3M Pharmaceuticals	Approved by the Canadian HPB January, 1999. Imiquimod was approved by the US FDA in 1997 for the treatment of external genital and perianal warts / condyloma acuminata in adults.
Anti-AIDS	Abacavir Ziagen® Glaxo Wellcome	Approved by the US FDA December, 1998. Ziagen is a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, taken twice daily without food or drink restrictions. In clinical trials, about 3% of patients experienced a potentially fatal hypersensitivity reaction.
Male-pattern hair loss	Finasteride 1 mg tablets Propecia® Merck	Propecia® has now been approved by eight EU countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Sweden), as well as Canada, the US and other countries worldwide.
Lyme disease	Lyme disease vaccine LYMErix® SmithKline Beecham	Approved by the US FDA for active immunization against Lyme disease in people aged 15-70. LYMErix® contains antigen from the only species of Borrelia burgdorferi found in the US. SmithKline Beecham are also developing a multivalent vaccine for use in Europe to combat several of the most common strains (B. burgdorferi, B afzeli and B. garinii) found there.
Metastatic Melanoma	Aldesleukin Proleukin® Chiron	Approved by the Canadian HPB for the new indication, treatment of metastatic melanoma. This recombinant form of IL-2 is approved in the US for treating malignant metastic melanoma, and in Canada, Europe and the US for treating metastatic renal cell carcinoma. This drug has been granted Orphan Drug status by the FDA for treating non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and acute myelogenous leukemia.
Varicella Vaccine	Varicella Vaccine Varivax® Merck Frosst	Approved in Canada for use in children aged one year and older. This vaccine is already available in the US, Taiwan, Phillipines, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Brazil.

Drug News
Male-pattern hair loss	Minoxidil Taisho	More than five years after being submitted for approval, minoxidil has been recommended for OTC sale by The Japanese Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council.

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