Information from Health Canada about retapaumulin (Altargo), a pleuromutilin antibiotic for the treatment of impetigo and skin infections. On March 19, 2008, Health Canada issued a Notice of Compliance to GlaxoSmithKline Inc. for the drug product AltargoTM. AltargoTM contains the medicinal ingredient retapamulin which is an antibiotic. AltargoTM is indicated for use in adult and…
Category Archives: HIV- AIDS & Infectious diseases
Etravirine (Intelence) review from Health Canada
Information about: etravirine (Intelence) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-experienced adult patients who have failed prior therapy and have HIV-1 strains resistant to multiple antiretroviral agents, including NNRTIs. From Health Canada. On March 27, 2008, Health Canada issued a Notice of Compliance to Janssen-Ortho Inc. for the drug product Intelence.
HIV protease inhibitors: animation showing their mechanism of action
About the HIV-1 protease, from Wikipedia: HIV-1 protease (HIV PR) is an aspartic protease that is essential for the life-cycle of HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS. HIV PR cleaves newly synthesized polyproteins at the appropriate places to create the mature protein components of an infectious HIV virion. Without effective HIV PR, HIV virions remain…
Maraviroc (Selzentry, Celsentri), a CCR5 inhibitor for the treatment of HIV infection. An Australian Prescriber review
A review from the Australian Prescriber website of a new drug for the treatment of HIV infection: Maraviroc Celsentri (Pfizer) 150 mg and 300 mg film-coated tablets Approved indication: HIV infection Australian Medicines Handbook section 5.4 Highly active antiretroviral therapy has improved survival for patients infected by HIV, but long-term toxicity and the development of…
EMEA: marketing authorisation of Neupopeg (pegfilgrastim) withdrawed
Public statement dated 16 December 2008: PUBLIC STATEMENT ON Neupopeg (pegfilgrastim) WITHDRAWAL OF THE MARKETING AUTHORISATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION On 22 August 2002 the European Commission issued a marketing authorisation valid throughout the European Union for the medicinal product Neupopeg, pegfilgrastim, which had been approved for the reduction in the duration of neutropenia and the incidence…
Alfuzosin does not improve symptoms of chronic prostatitis- chronic pelvic pain syndrome
From JournalWatch: Alpha-Blocker Does Not Ease Symptoms of Chronic Prostatitis Alfuzosin, an alpha-adrenergic–receptor blocker, does not improve symptoms in men with chronic prostatitis–chronic pelvic pain syndrome, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study.
EMEA press release: CHMP adopted a positive opinion about japanese encephalitis vaccine (Ixiaro)
COMMITTEE FOR MEDICINAL PRODUCTS FOR HUMAN USE SUMMARY OF POSITIVE OPINION for IXIARO Common Name: Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, inactivated, adsorbed On 18 December 2008 the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion, recommending to grant a marketing authorisation for the medicinal product IXIARO, containing a target total protein amount of…
EMEA press release: CHMP adopted a positive opinion for pandemic influenza vaccine H5N1 (Celvapan)
COMMITTEE FOR MEDICINAL PRODUCTS FOR HUMAN USE SUMMARY OF POSITIVE OPINION for CELVAPAN Common Name: Pandemic Influenza Vaccine (H5N1 whole virion, Vero cell derived, inactivated) On 18 December 2008 the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorisation for the medicinal product Celvapan, 7.5…
Protein synthesis inhibitors: macrolides mechanism of action animation. Classification of agents
Author: Gary Kaiser Biology Department The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus Baltimore, MD 21228 USA Email: gkaiser@ccbcmd.edu From Richard Harvey (series editor), Lippincott’s Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology (LWW, 2008): “Macrolides mechanism of action (MOA) The macrolides bind irreversibly to a site on the 50S subunit of the bacterial ribosome, thus inhibiting the translocation steps…
Protein synthesis inhibitors: aminoglycosides mechanism of action animation. Classification of agents
The following animation depicts the mechanism of action of aminoglycosides. This antibiotic class includes drugs such as gentamicin, streptomycin (used for TB treatment), amikacin, among others. Aminoglycosides mechanism Susceptible gram-negative organisms allow aminoglycosides to diffuse through porin channels in their outer membranes. These organisms also have an oxygen-dependent system that transports the drug across the…
Protein synthesis inhibitors: tetracyclines mechanism of action animation. Classification of agents
Author Gary Kaiser Biology Department The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus Baltimore, MD 21228 USA Email: gkaiser@ccbcmd.edu From Richard Harvey (series editor), Lippincott’s Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology (LWW, 2008): ” Tetracyclines The tetracyclines are a group of closely related compounds that, as the name implies, consist of four fused rings with a system of…
EMEA: Norfloxacin should not be used to treat acute or chronic complicated pyelonephritis
This press release was published on July 2008: EMEA recommends restricted use of oral norfloxacin-containing medicines in urinary infections The European Medicines Agency has recommended restricting the use of oral norfloxacin-containing medicines in urinary infections. The Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has concluded that the marketing authorisations for oral norfloxacin-containing medicines,…
Beta lactams antibiotics (penicillins and cephalosporins) mechanism of action: videos and animations
Mechanism of action of the beta lactam antibiotics (penicillins and cephalosporins) The beta-lactam antibiotics can kill susceptible bacteria. Although knowledge of the mechanism of this action is incomplete, numerous researchers have supplied information that allows understanding of the basic phenomenon (seeGhuysen, 1991; Bayles, 2000). The cell walls of bacteria are essential for their normal growth…
Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance: video animations produced by FDA
The following video explains the mechanisms that bacteria use to develop antibiotic resistance: Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance Mutation Destruction or Inactivation Efflux ( 1:00) Genetic Transfer Conjugation Transformation Transduction
