Orphan Medical's Xyrem (sodium oxybate) will be distributed through a single mail-order pharmacy under a risk management plan proposed in the company's Oct. 9 response to FDA's July 2 "approvable" letter for the narcoleptic cataplexy treatment (1"The Pink Sheet" July 9, p. 18). Orphan's response includes respiratory data from an earlier trial in place of a pre-approval study on respiratory-compromised patients (2"The Pink Sheet" Sept. 3, In Brief). Company's risk management program also calls for a prescription registry and special Xyrem prescribing pads; FDA has six months to act on the response

Schering-Plough recalls four lots of Intron A (interferon alfa-2b) after stability tests find it to be subpotent 30 days following reconstitution. The lots are manufactured at company's Ireland plant; Schering is sorting out cGMP compliance problems at its Puerto Rico and New Jersey facilities (1"The Pink Sheet" July 2, p. 25). The recalled lots were due to expire between Oct. 20 and Aug. 2, 2002

Orphan Medical's Xyrem (sodium oxybate) will be distributed through a single mail-order pharmacy under a risk management plan proposed in the company's Oct. 9 response to FDA's July 2 "approvable" letter for the narcoleptic cataplexy treatment (1"The Pink Sheet" July 9, p. 18). Orphan's response includes respiratory data from an earlier trial in place of a pre-approval study on respiratory-compromised patients (2"The Pink Sheet" Sept. 3, In Brief). Company's risk management program also calls for a prescription registry and special Xyrem prescribing pads; FDA has six months to act on the response