Update on Drugs and Drug News

Update on Drugs and Drug News: March, 1999

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STL Volume 4 Number 4

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March 1, 1999

Class	Name/Company	Approval Dates and Comments
Anticancer	Methoxsalen Uvadex Therakos	In April, 1999, the FDA approved this drug for extracorporeal administration with the UVAR Photophoresis system in the palliative treatment of skin manifestations of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma that are unresponsive to other forms of treatment.
Diabetic ulcers	Becaplermin 0.01% Regranex® Janssen-Ortho	FDA approved for the treatment of full thickness, lower extremity diabetic ulcers.
Metastatic melanoma	Aldesleukin Proleukin® Chiron	Approved in February, 1999, by the US FDA for the treatment of metastatic melanoma in adults.
Post-herpetic neuralgia	Post-herpetic neuralgia Lidoderm® patch Endo Pharmaceuticals	Approved in March, 1999, by the US FDA to treat the pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) complication of shingles. This is the first product approved by the FDA for the treatment of PHN.
Anti-inflammatory dermatoses	Betamethasone valerate foam Luxiq® 0.12% Connetics Corporation	Approved in March, 1999, by the US FDA for the relief of inflammatory and pruritic manifestations of corticosteroidresponsive dermatoses of the scalp.
Drug News
Anticancer	Paclitaxel Taxop® Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.	Nail disorders or changes may occur more often than was at first thought. These changes can include discoloring, nailthickening, onycholysis, and paronychia.
Dietary supplements	Labels must now list all ingredients in order of quantity, suggested serving, percent daily value and amount of calories. Vitamin and mineral product labels must state the quantity of specific nutrients and herbal products must specify the actual plant parts used.
Malignant melanoma	Temozolomide Temodal® Schering-Plough	The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee recommended against approval of temozolomide because of an inability to demonstrate any superiority over dacarbazine for this condition.
Tinea pedis	Terbinafine HCl cream 1% Lamisil® Novartis	In March, 1999, the FDA approved the switch from prescription status to over-the-counter availability of terbinafine cream for tinea pedis.