We Need More Pharmacists Doing This Type of Work; We need more State Boards of Pharmacy Publishing this Type of Information: Frequently Asked Questions for Pharmacists on Compounding Itraconazole (brand name - Sporonox) Q: Should I compound Itraconazole? (Answered by Gigi Davidson, BSPH, RPH, DICVP)

Pharmacist FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions for Pharmacists on Compounding Itraconazole (brand name - Sporonox)

Q: Should I compound Itraconazole?

A: Pharmacists should note the following important information regarding compounding of itraconazole products from the bulk chemical:

Itraconazole bulk powder (brand name - Sporonox) is NOT bioavailable in mammalian species. All of the commercially available Itraconazole products (capsules, oral solution and injectable) are complexed onto a cyclodextran molecule to increase solubility and systemic bioavailability. Unless compounding pharmacists are also utilizing this cyclodextran technology, the Itraconazole products from bulk chemical are not being absorbed and are therapeutically worthless. Dr. Mark Papich, our clinical pharmacologist, has studied the bioavailability of Itraconazole (both FDA-approved and compounded from bulk) in animal patients, and the bulk chemical is simply not bioavailable. We have had MULTIPLE therapeutic failures (and some resulting deaths in dogs suffering from blastomycosis) in the veterinary community from Itraconazole capsules and suspension compounded from the bulk chemical. We had another therapeutic failure today that resulted from the compounding pharmacist offering to compound Itraconazole suspension because the commercially available products are "too expensive". As most of the systemic fungal infections that animals suffer from are life-threatening, we must do everything we can to educate compounding pharmacists to stop compounding with Itraconazole bulk chemical. Thank you for any intervention that you might be able to provide.

Gigi Davidson, BSPh, RPh, DICVP
Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services
North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine 4700 Hillsborough Street Raleigh, NC 27606
email: gigi_davidson@ncsu.edu

phone: 919-513-6575
fax: 919-513-6571

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