Wedgewood Pharmacy introduces new compounded dosage form and new preparation for equine patients

(Swedesboro NJ, June 27, 2008) Wedgewood Pharmacy has added a new dosage form, antibiotic beads, and a new preparation, Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium (Pentosan), to its extensive formulary of custom-compounded preparations.

Wedgewood initially will compound antibiotic beads for Gentamicin Sulfate, Clindamycin HCl and Amikacin Sulfate, all of which may be prescribed to treat bacterial infections, and plans to add more preparations in the future. The beads are made of surgical-grade calcium sulfate hemihydrate, a biodegradable substance that will be absorbed over time into the biological system.

Although veterinarians and physicians have utilized antibiotic beads to treat and prevent infection in the operating room and when treating wounds for almost 40 years, finding a source for the beads always has been difficult; most practitioners have been forced to formulate their own in their offices and surgery centers.

Pentosan, a Wedgewood exclusive, is dispensed as a 250mg/ml injection in a 6ml vial. Previously it was unavailable in the U.S.

George J. Malmberg, R.Ph., F.A.C.A, F.A.C.V.P., the pharmacist president and CEO of Wedgewood Pharmacy, noted, “Providing veterinarians with compounded preparations in the dosage forms they cannot find anywhere else is the cornerstone of our profession. When medications that may make a critical difference in outcomes are otherwise unavailable, a capable compounding pharmacy may become the best source for the preparations that are vital to veterinary practice so that veterinarians can focus on treating their patients — not formulating medications.”

A compounding pharmacy creates customized medications for individual patients in response to a licensed practitioner’s prescription. Wedgewood Pharmacy is one of the largest compounding pharmacies in the United States, serving more than 25,000 prescribers of compounded medications. It is located in Swedesboro NJ and licensed throughout the United States.

Because every patient is different and has different needs, customized, compounded medications are a vital part of quality medical care. The basis of the profession of pharmacy has always been the "triad," the patient-prescriber-pharmacist relationship.

Through this relationship, patient needs are determined by a prescriber, who chooses a treatment regimen that may include a compounded medication. Prescribers often prescribe compounded medications for reasons that include (but are not limited to) the following situations:

• When needed medications are discontinued by or generally unavailable from pharmaceutical companies, often because the medications are no longer profitable to manufacture;
• When the patient is allergic to certain preservatives, dyes or binders in available off-the shelf medications;
• When treatment requires tailored dosage strengths for patients with unique needs (for example, an infant);
• When a pharmacist can combine several medications the patient is taking to increase compliance;
• When the patient cannot ingest the medication in its commercially available form and a pharmacist can prepare the medication in cream, liquid or other form that the patient can easily take; and
• When medications require flavor additives to make them more palatable for some patients.

For additional information, visit the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists’ Web site at www.iacprx.org and www.compoundingfacts.org.