The FDA has approved oritavancin (Orbactiv – The Medicines Company), a long-acting lipoglycopeptide antibiotic given as a single intravenous (IV) dose, for treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections caused by susceptible gram-positive bacteria in adults. It is the third lipoglycopeptide antibiotic to be marketed in the US; telavancin (Vibativ) and dalbavancin (Dalvance) were approved earlier.

Olodaterol (Striverdi Respimat – Boehringer Ingelheim), a new inhaled long-acting beta2-agonist, has been approved by the FDA for once-daily maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is not approved for treatment of acute exacerbations of COPD or for treatment of asthma. Olodaterol is the third long-acting beta2-agonist to be approved by the FDA for once-daily use; indacaterol (Arcapta Neohaler), which is available as a single agent, and vilanterol, which is available only in fixed-dose combinations with the...

The FDA has approved Trumenba (Pfizer), a vaccine that protects against invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B, for use in adolescents and young adults 10-25 years old.

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 the interleukin-6 (IL-6) antagonist siltuximab (Sylvant – Janssen), a recombinant chimeric (human-mouse) monoclonal antibody, for treatment of multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD) in patients who are HIV negative and human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) negative. It is the first drug to be approved for this indication.

The FDA has approved fixed-dose combinations of metformin with either canagliflozin (Invokamet) or dapagliflozin (Xigduo XR) for treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes not adequately controlled with any one of these drugs, or in those already being treated with both metformin and either canagliflozin or dapagliflozin.

The FDA has approved 2 oral drugs for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Pirfenidone (Esbriet) has been available in Europe since 2011 and in Canada since 2012. Nintedanib (Ofev) is available only in the US.

Recent guidelines from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association reviewed antithrombotic therapy options for secondary prevention of stroke in patients who have had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Antiplatelet drugs are the drugs of choice for prevention and treatment of arterial thrombosis. Anticoagulants are the drugs of choice for prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism and for prevention of cardioembolic events in patients with atrial fibrillation.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reclassified all hydrocodone combination products as schedule II controlled substances; they were previously classified as schedule III. Hydrocodone alone (Zohydro ER) is already a schedule II controlled substance.