News You Can Use…

Pete Koval, PharmD

Megan Shah, PharmD Candidate

Cone Health Family Medicine

July 2015

Drug Launched

• Risedronate, generic for Actonel, is now available• Risedronate is used for the treatment and

prevention of osteoporosis and treatment of Paget’s disease.

• Available as 5 mg, 30 mg, and 35 mg tablets

06/2/2015 Pharmacy Times

Trial Review

• IMPROVE-IT trial shows cardiac benefit of adding ezetimibe 10 mg to simvastatin 40 mg after ACS• Simvastatin/ezetimibe reduced CV events by

~7% vs. simvastatin monotherapy (NNT=50)• Baseline LDL of 94 mg/dl was reduced to 54

g/dl with simvastatin/ezetimibe and 70 mg/dl with simvastatin alone.

06/4/2015 N Engl J Med

Pharmacy Business

• CVS Health bought Target pharmacies and clinics• Target pharmacies will operate under CVS

name inside Target stores.• Target clinics will be rebranded as

MinuteClinic

06/15/2015 NY Times

New Indication

• Zomig (zolmitriptan) nasal spray has been FDA approved for treatment of migraines with or without aura in pediatric patients >12 years of age• Previously was only indicated for age >18.• Starting dose for pediatric patients is 2.5 mg

daily with a max dose of 10 mg daily.

06/16/2015 Medscape

New Drug Approval

• Kengreal (cangrelor) gained FDA approval to prevent blood clots in patients undergoing PCI• Intravenous antiplatelet drug (P2Y12

inhibitor)• Administered as a 30 mcg/kg bolus injection,

followed by a 4 mcg/kg/min infusion for 2 to 4 hours.

06/22/2015 FDA.gov

FDA Warning

• FDA issued a warning of permanent loss of skin color for Daytrana (methylphenidate) patch.• Skin condition is called chemical leukoderma• Time of onset ranges from 2 months to 4

years

06/24/2015 FDA.gov