The US Food and Drug Administration has given approval to the first new gout drug to appear on the market in 40 years. Gout is an intensely painful form of arthritis. The new drug, febuxostat, will be marketed in the US under the name Uloric by Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Febuxostat lower the concentration of uric acid in the blood of people with gout. It has been shown to be effective in clinical trials and is safe for patient with kidney or liver problems.
Read more and share your opinion.
Tags: arthritis, drug, FDA, febuxostat, gout, Takeda, Uloric
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:48 am
[...] the original: RightHealth Daily Dose » Blog Archive » First New Gout Drug In 40 … Share and [...]
February 17th, 2009 at 8:11 am
I have been taking Allopurinol 300 mg daily for many years. Will this new medication just as good?
February 17th, 2009 at 8:17 am
According to a study published in the New Englad Journal of Medicine “Febuxostat, at a daily dose of 80 mg or 120 mg, was more effective than allopurinol at the commonly used fixed daily dose of 300 mg in lowering serum urate. Similar reductions in gout flares and tophus area occurred in all treatment groups.” I have not read this study in its entirety, however, to determine if it’s a sound study or not. I would suggest doing so first.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Here’s the link to the NEJM article: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/353/23/2450