FDA using pharmaceutical market research to track influenza treatment

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. The Food and Drug Administration is using prescription data from a pharmaceutical market research firm to track treatment of A-H1N1 and other influenza viruses.

Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions announced Wednesday that the FDA would use its weekly updates to see who was using the four most popular oral antiviral drugs — Roche’s Tamiflu (oseltamivir), GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza (zanamivir), Forest Labs’ Flumadine (rimantadine) and Endo Pharmaceuticals’ Symmetrel (amantadine), the latter two of which are available in generic form — and identify clusters where large numbers of people use them.

“The FDA is using our prescription data as a means of tracking the treatment of populations affected by flu outbreaks, including the H1N1 virus, and the specific medications being used to treat them,” Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions CEO Mark Spiers said in a statement. “The data are typically not more than five days old upon delivery.”