Etravirine (Intelence - Tibotec), a new non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), has received fast-track FDA approval for use in combination therapy in treatment-experienced adults who have HIV-1 infection resistant to an NNRTI and other antiretroviral agents.

Olopatadine 0.6% nasal spray (Patanase - Alcon) has been approved by the FDA for treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis in patients ≥ 12 years old. An H1-antihistamine with mast-cell stabilizing activity, olopatadine is already marketed for treatment of allergic conjunctivitis in a 0.1% solution as Patanol and in a 0.2% solution as Pataday. Azelastine (Astelin), another H1-antihistamine with mast-cell stabilizing activity, has been available for intranasal treatment of allergic rhinitis since 1997.

The cardiovascular safety of the thiazolidinedione rosiglitazone (Avandia – GlaxoSmithKline) is in the news again, with some authorities calling for its removal from the market (New York Times, February 19, 2010).

A study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that dutasteride (Avodart – GlaxoSmithKline), a 5α-reductase inhibitor marketed for treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia, reduced the risk of prostate cancer over a 4-year period.

The 2006 Medical Letter article on the then-new varicella-zoster vaccine concluded that Zostavax appears to be safe and effective in protecting patients ≥60 years old against herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia, especially in reducing the severity and duration of the disease.1 Some new information has recently become available.CLINICAL STUDIES — A Veterans Administration randomized, double-blind trial enrolled more than 38,000 patients ≥60 years old and followed them for a mean of 3.4 years after administration of Zostavax or placebo. Since the efficacy of the vaccine had been...

In recent years, many women have become concerned about the safety of pharmaceutical replacement hormones for treatment of menopausal symptoms. “Bioidentical” hormone preparations, which are not approved by the FDA, are heavily promoted in popular books and on TV as alternatives; these are derivatives of soy or plant extracts, chemically modified to be structurally identical to endogenous hormones. Most FDA-approved single-entity hormones are also derivatives of soy or plant extracts and are structurally identical to hormones produced by the ovary.

The anthracycline doxorubicin with or without the alkylating agent ifosfamide is the standard first-line treatment for advanced soft-tissue sarcomas. The FDA recently approved the minor groove DNA intercalator trabectedin (Yondelis – Janssen) for treatment of unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma in patients previously treated with an anthracycline. Trabectedin has been available for years in Europe for treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma. The FDA has also approved the microtubule inhibitor eribulin mesylate (Halaven – Eisai), which was approved earlier for...

A live attenuated varicella-zoster vaccine (Zostavax - Merck) has been approved by the FDA for prevention of herpes zoster (HZ; zoster; shingles) in persons ≥60 years old. Each dose of Zostavax contains about 14 times as much varicella-zoster virus (VZV) as Varivax, which has been used in the US since 1995 to vaccinate against varicella (chicken pox).

Some patients with primary immune deficiency are injected with intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) every 3-4 weeks. Now a subcutaneous immune globulin (SCIG) has also been approved in the US for this indication (Vivaglobin - CSL Behring). SCIG has been used in Europe for about 10 years.

Several injectable products are available for soft tissue augmentation of wrinkles and folds. These fillers are often used in conjunction with botulinum toxin type A (Botox) injections.