Horse Journal Veterinary Editor Grant Miller DVM said that it’s official that an FDA-approved brand of pergolide, which is used to treat horses with PPID, aka Cushing?s disease, is on its way to the U.S. market. Read what he has to say below and, if you have more questions about the drug or Cushing’s, let me know. You can e-mail me at hjeditor@twcny.rr.com.
Here’s what Dr. Miller wants you to know:
Many readers obtain pergolide for their?Cushingoid horses from?compounding pharmacies (read more about this in our December 2011 issue).??These purchases are common practices in the United States since Permax, the FDA-approved formulation was?removed from?the market about six years ago.? However, recent developments at Boehringer Ingelheim bring promise that a new FDA-approved form of Pergolide will be available on the market soon.? Called Prascend, this 1 mg tablet is a?synthetic form of dopamine that will likely have?a more uniform concentration and longer shelf life than compounded products.
For those readers who cannot afford Prascend, or prefer a?flavored power or liquid form of pergolide over the tablet form,?the compounded form drug?will still be available?once Prascend hits the marketplace.? For now, the FDA is allowing compounding pharmacies to make pergolide from bulk ingredients (a?practice that they generally do not allow as a rule of thumb.)? The fact is, compounded forms of pergolide were always available, even before Permax was taken out of circulation years ago.? The compounded forms?were a bit more expensive than they are now, but still far less expensive than the FDA-approved Permax was.? It is likely that if nothing?else, the same trend will recur for compounded pergolide once Prascend is released.
