The equivalence of generic drugs to their brand-name precursors continues to be controversial. The last Medical Letter review of this subject (2002) concluded that well-documented therapeutic inequivalence between brand-name and FDA-approved generic drugs had not been reported. Is that still true? New data have become available for some drugs.

The FDA has approved Triumeq (Viiv Healthcare), a fixed-dose combination of the integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) dolutegravir and the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) abacavir and lamivudine, for once-daily treatment of HIV-1 infection. Dolutegravir (Tivicay) was approved as a single agent in 2013.

The FDA has approved Dovato (ViiV), a fixed-dose combination of the integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) dolutegravir (Tivicay) and the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) lamivudine (Epivir, and generics), as a once-daily complete regimen for treatment of adults with HIV-1 infection who are antiretroviral-treatment naive and have no known substitutions associated with resistance to either drug. Dolutegravir/lamivudine is the first complete regimen to be approved by the FDA for initial treatment of HIV-1 infection that contains 2 rather than 3 antiretroviral...

The FDA has approved crofelemer (kroe fel’ e mer; Fulyzaq – Salix), a chloride channel inhibitor derived from the red sap of the South American plant Croton lechleri, for symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in patients with HIV taking antiretroviral drugs. It is the first drug approved for relief of antiretroviral-induced diarrhea and the first oral botanical drug approved by the FDA.

View the Table: Some Drug Interactions with Drugs for IBD

Ibandronate (Boniva - Roche) is the first bisphosphonate approved by the FDA for intravenous (IV) treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. It is given as a bolus injection once every 3 months. Ibandronate is also available as an oral once-a-month 150-mg tablet and as a daily 2.5-mg tablet.

View the Comparison Table: Some Drugs for Migraine Prevention in Adults

The drugs of choice for treatment of common cardiac arrhythmias are listed in Tables 1 and 2. Some drugs are recommended for indications that have not been approved by the FDA.

Strontium-89 chloride was recently approved for marketing by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is offered for relief of pain caused by metastatic bone lesions

Dexrazoxane (Zinecard - Pharmacia) was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for protection against cardiac toxicity from (Adriamycin, and others) in women with metastatic breast cancer.