FDA Approves Generic Option for Toxoplasmosis

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first generic pyrimethamine tablets for the treatment of toxoplasmosis to be used with sulfonamide.

The new option is a generic of Daraprim (pyrimethamine) tablets.

The most common adverse effects associated with pyrimethamine include hypersensitivity reactions (immune reactions), including Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis, erythema multiforme, anaphylaxis, and hyperphenylalaninemia. With doses of pyrimethamine used to treat toxoplasmosis, anorexia and vomiting can occur, as can megaloblastic anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, pancytopenia, neutropenia, atrophic glossitis, hematuria, and disorders of cardiac rhythm.

The drug should not be used in patients with impaired renal or hepatic function or those with folate deficiency.

—Michael Potts

Reference:
FDA Approves First Generic of Daraprim [press release]. Silver Spring, MD: Food and Drug Administration; February 28, 2020. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-generic-daraprim. Accessed March 2, 2020.