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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Pain And Symptom Control Medication Highlights - Intranasal Fentanyl

Efficacy and tolerability of intranasal fentanyl spray 50 to 200 microg for breakthrough pain in patients with cancer: A phase III, multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial with a 10-month, open-label extension treatment period

Clinical Therapeutics, 08/26/09

Kress HG et al. – Intranasal fentanyl spray (INFS), at 50, 100, and 200 micrograms, was associated with an onset of activity at 10 min and effective tx of breakthrough pain compared with placebo.

Methods
Phase III, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial 120 adults with cancer receiving a stable dose of long-term opioid tx for the control of background pain. Patients were treated at home with 50, 100, or 200 micrograms of INFS or placebo for 3 weeks, followed by a 10-month, phase when they received their effective dose of INFS.

Results
The pain intensity difference at 10 minutes (PID10) with INFS was 2-fold that with placebo.
The mean response rate with all 3 doses of INFS was 51.1% vs. 20.9% with placebo.
The prevalence of AEs was 19.8% (nausea [4.5%] and vertigo [1.8%]).

Of course, Onsolis (Fentanyl Buccal Film) was approved by the FDA back in July “for the management of breakthrough pain in patients with cancer aged 18 years and older who receive around-the-clock opioid therapy and are able to safely use high doses of additional opioid agents.”

"Onsolis can provide strong pain relief to patients who are opioid tolerant. But for patients who are not opioid tolerant, it can lead to overdose, sudden serious breathing difficulties and death," said Bob Rappaport, MD, director, Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Rheumatology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in an agency news release. "For this reason, Onsolis should be prescribed only under the safeguards provided by the FDA-required [risk evaluation and mitigation strategy] and by health care professionals knowledgeable about Onsolis and the use of potent opioid medications."

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Pharmacy History

"The earliest known compilation of medicinal substances was ARIANA the Sushruta Samhita, an Indian Ayurvedic treatise attributed to Sushruta in the 6th century BC. However, the earliest text as preserved dates to the 3rd or 4th century AD.
Many Sumerian (late 6th millennium BC - early 2nd millennium BC) cuneiform clay tablets record prescriptions for medicine.[3]

Ancient Egyptian pharmacological knowledge was recorded in various papyri such as the Ebers Papyrus of 1550 BC, and the Edwin Smith Papyrus of the 16th century BC.

The earliest known Chinese manual on materia medica is the Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic), dating back to the 1st century AD. It was compiled during the Han dynasty and was attributed to the mythical Shennong. Earlier literature included lists of prescriptions for specific ailments, exemplified by a manuscript "Recipes for 52 Ailments", found in the Mawangdui tomb, sealed in 168 BC. Further details on Chinese pharmacy can be found in the Pharmacy in China article."

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacy#History_of_pharmacy

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