Megan Shah, PharmD Candidate Cone Health Family Medicine 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