Palonosetron (Aloxi - Helsinn Healthcare SA, Switzerland, distributed in the US by MGI Pharma) is the fourth serotonin (5-HT3) receptor antagonist to become available in the US and the first to be approved by the FDA for prevention of both acute and delayed nausea and vomiting due to moderately emetogenic cancer chemotherapy. It is also approved for prevention of acute nausea and vomiting due to highly emetogenic drugs such as cisplatin (Platinol, and others). Aprepitant (Emend), a substance P/neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, was approved last year for use with a 5-HT3 antagonist and...

Oxymorphone hydrochloride, a semi-synthetic opioid agonist, has been available for many years in the US as Numorphan (Endo) for parenteral use and as a rectal suppository. Now it has been approved by the FDA for oral administration as an immediate-release (IR) tablet (Opana) for treatment of moderate to severe acute pain, and as an extended-release tablet (Opana ER) for treatment of moderate to severe pain in patients requiring continuous opioid treatment for an extended period of time.

The FDA has approved a nasal spray fixed-dose combination (Dymista – Meda) of the H₁-antihistamine azelastine (Astelin, Astepro, and generics) and the corticosteroid fluticasone propionate (Flonase, and generics) for treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) in patients ≥12 years old who need both medications for symptomatic relief. It is the first nasal spray to be approved in the US that contains both an H₁-antihistamine and a corticosteroid.

The FDA has recently approved 2 new drugs for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Simeprevir (Olysio – Janssen) is the third oral protease inhibitor to be approved for use in combination with peginterferon and ribavirin for treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection in adults with compensated liver disease. Telaprevir (Incivek) and boceprevir (Victrelis) were approved in 2011 for the same indication. Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi – Gilead), a nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor that has been approved for use with and without interferon for treatment of multiple HCV...

The FDA has approved the human interleukin (IL)-12 and -23 antagonist ustekinumab (Stelara – Janssen Biotech) for treatment of moderately to severely active Crohn's disease in adults who were intolerant of or whose disease was unresponsive to treatment with immunomodulators or corticosteroids, or a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor. Ustekinumab was approved earlier for treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

The FDA has approved betrixaban (Bevyxxa – Portola), a once-daily, oral, direct factor Xa inhibitor, for prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in adults hospitalized for an acute medical illness who have moderately or severely restricted mobility and other risk factors for VTE. Betrixaban is the first oral anticoagulant to be approved in the US for this indication.

Oliceridine (Olinvyk - Trevena), an IV opioid agonist, has been approved by the FDA for management of acute pain severe enough to require an opioid and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate.

The FDA has approved deucravacitinib (Sotyktu – BMS), an oral tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor, for once-daily treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. Deucravacitinib is the first selective TYK2 inhibitor to be approved in the US for any indication.

Pramlintide acetate (Symlin - Amylin Pharmaceuticals), a synthetic analog of human amylin, has been approved by the FDA as adjunctive treatment for patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who inject insulin at mealtimes and have failed to achieve glucose control. Pramlintide is injected subcutaneously before meals.

The FDA has approved Apretude (ViiV Healthcare), an IM extended-release (ER) formulation of the integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) cabotegravir, for use every 2 months to prevent sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk adolescents and adults. Apretude is the first ER formulation to be FDA-approved for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) of HIV-1 infection.