AstraZeneca's Zurampic gets FDA approval

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced that it approved AstraZeneca's Zurampic (lesinurad) to treat high levels of uric acid in the blood (hyperuricemia) associated with gout, when combined with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor.

"Controlling hyperuricemia is critical to the long-term treatment of gout," said Badrul Chowdhury, director of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Rheumatology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Zurampic provides a new treatment option for the millions of people who may develop gout over their lifetimes."

Zurampic works by helping the kidney excrete uric acid by inhibiting the function of transporter proteins involved in uric acid reabsorption in the kidney.