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 Drugs in the News, August 16th, 2006

• Abbott Laboratories, Illinois announced the approval of HUMIRA (Generic name: Adalimumab) for treating ankylosing spondylitis.Ankylosing arthritis is a form of chronic inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints. HUMIRA also is approved by FDA to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The common approach to treat ankylosing arthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis is to use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), anti-TNF-alpha drugs or oral or injectable cortisones.

             Other related drugs that are available in the market are:

Enbrel:  Etanerecept, which is used for the treatment of RA, psoriatic arthritis,ankylosing spondylitis and plaque psoriasis. The main side effects are redness,itching,pain or swelling at the injection site. Cough, nausea, cold or headache may occur.

Remicade: or Infliximab injection may decrease the ability to fight injection and increase the risk of infections. This is anti-TNF-α drug.

Kineret: This drug is associated with serious infections.

Methotrexate:  Methotrexate is an anti-metabolite drug capable of blocking the metabolism of cells. This drug suppresses the immune system and may cause serious infections.

Celebrex: This is a non steroidal anti-anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Headache and nausea are the most commonly associated symptoms with the use of this medicine.

Ibuprofen: This is NSAID. Rash, abdominal pain and headache are the most commonly associated symptoms with this drug.

 Last week FDA approved Elaprase also known as Idusulfurase, to treat Hunter Syndrome, which is potentially deadly genetic disease. This is the first drug available for this disease and is made available by Shire Human Genetic Therapies of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hunter Syndrome is a genetic disease with defective breakdown of a mucopolysaccharide. This is a X-linked recessive disease and is due to the deficiency of enzyme Iduronate sulfatase. So far no cure was available for Hunter Syndrome.

 Quote of the week

 “ All exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation.”

                                                                                             - Doug Larson