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Valcyte

Valganciclovir hydrochloride (Valcyte®) is an antiviral medication used to treat cytomegalovirus infections. As the L-valyl ester of ganciclovir, it is actually a prodrug for ganciclovir. After oral administration, it is rapidly converted to ganciclovir by intestinal and hepatic esterases. more...

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Administration

Orally, available in 450 mg pink tablets. Dosing is calculated to provide appropriate doses of ganciclovir; 900 mg of valganciclovir orally every 12 hours is equivalent to 5 mg per kilogram of body weight of intravenous ganciclovir, also every 12 hours.

Pharmacokinetics

Oral bioavailability is approximately 60%. Fatty foods significantly increase the bioavailability and the peak level in the serum.
It takes about 2 hours to reach maximum concentrations in the serum.
Valganciclovir is eliminated as ganciclovir in the urine, with a half-life of about 4 hours in people with normal kidney function.

Side effects

Blood: neutropenia, anemia, low platelets. Myelosuppression is one of the main side effects that may limit prolonged use of valganciclovir.
Gastrointestinal: diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain.
Central nervous system: fever, headache, insomnia, paresthesia, and peripheral neuropathy.
Ocular: retinal detachment

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New approvals
From Optometric Management, 6/1/01

Aspheric Contact Lens with Direct Delivery

* CooperVision introduced its new planned replacement aspheric lens, Ascend, for spherical lens wearers and those with low amounts of astigmatism. The lens will be available only to practitioners and will be directly delivered to patients. By offering the lens only to practitioners, CooperVision hopes to eliminate the potential for gray market diversion. The lens is made of methafilcon A, which is 55% water and has a monthly replacement schedule.

Drug for CMV Retinitis

* Valganciclovir (Valcyte), an oral drug indicated for treating cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS patients, was recently approved. The drug's manufacturer Hoffmann-La Roche, expects Valcyte to replace the most widely prescribed anti-CMV medication, ganciclovir (Cytovene), which is also manufactured by Roche but is an intravenous drug. Valcyte offers comparable efficacy to Cytovene but with a much more convenient dosing regimen, reports HoffmanLa Roche.

Lens for Astigmatic Presbyopes

* Blanchard Contact Lens, Inc., recently received FDA market clearance and launched its new ESSential Soft Toric Multifocal lens. The lens has already demonstrated benefits for astigmatic presbyopes, according to the manufacturer.

The lens is manufactured in hioxifilcon B. It features base curves of 8.8 mm, 8.4 mm and 8.2 mm with diameters of 14.8 mm, 14.5 mm and 14.0 mm, respectively. Cylinder correction ranges from -0.75D to -3.OOD, spherical correction from -8.SOD to +6.50D and add corrections up to +2.75D.

Laser Approved for Trabeculoplasties

* Coherent recently received approval from the FDA to market its Selecta 7000 Glaucoma Laser System. Designed to perform selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), the laser uses a patented new technique for treating open-angle glaucoma. According to the company, SLT is less traumatic to the eye than the current laser procedure used to treat glaucoma - argon laser trabeculoplasty.

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