View the Comparison Table: Some Nasal Sprays for Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis

The FDA has approved taliglucerase alfa (ta lee gloo´ se rays; Elelyso – Pfizer/Protalix), a recombinant form of glucocerebrosidase, for treatment of adults with Type 1 Gaucher disease. These patients have a genetic deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase that leads to accumulation of glucosylceramide in the lysosomes of reticuloendothelial cells, primarily in the liver, spleen and bone marrow.1Taliglucerase is the third form of the enzyme to become available in the US. Imiglucerase (Cerezyme) and velaglucerase (Vpriv) are produced in mammalian cell lines. Taliglucerase is...

The FDA has approved Merilog (Sanofi), a biosimilar to rapid-acting insulin aspart (NovoLog), for treatment of patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Merilog is the first rapid-acting insulin biosimilar product to become available in the US.

Endoscopic injection of sclerosing agents is now widely accepted as a primary treatment for bleeding esophageal varices (J Terblanche et al, N Engl J Med, 320:1393, 1469, May 25 and June 1, 1989). Ethanolamine oleate 5% (Ethamolin - Glaxo), a sclerosing agent that has been available in Canada and abroad for many years, was recently approved for this indication by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

BCG Live (TheraCys - Connaught) and BCG Vaccine U.S.P. (TiceBCG - Organon), freeze-dried suspensions of an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, were recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for intravesical treatment of primary or relapsed carcinoma in situ of the bladder, with or without associated papillary tumors. BCG is not recommended for treatment of papillary tumors occurring alone.

The prognosis in breast cancer is generally poor for women with unresectable, locally advanced disease (inflammatory cancer or more than 10 positive lymph nodes) and for those with metastases. Autologous bone marrow transplantation - removing bone marrow from multiple sites under general anesthesia, giving high-dose chemotherapy with or without total body radiation, and reinfusing the bone marrow intravenously - is being tried in some of these patients.

The number of immunizations recommended for infants and young children has increased in recent years with the addition of vaccines to prevent Haemophilus influenzae type b infection and hepatitis B (Medical Letter, 33:5, 1991; 34:69, 1992). Now the US Food and Drug Administration has licensed a new vaccine for infants (Tetramune - Lederle-Praxis) that combines a traditional diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine (DTP; Tri-Immunol) with a vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type b (HibTiter).

The US FDA has approved use of palivizumab for prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in high-risk infants and children.

Recombinant human α-L-iduronidase (laronidase; Aldurazyme BioMarin/Genzyme), an orphan drug, has been approved by the FDA for enzyme replacement therapy in mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type I, a lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficiency of the enzyme. This review describes the disease, treatment, adverse effects and cost.

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.