New Drug Approvals in 2012

2012 was one of the busiest years recently for the FDA. The agency approved 39 new drugs. The last time the feds approved so many drugs was 16 years ago.
One of the new medications is bedaquiline (Sirturo), a compound to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis. This is a huge problem in much of the world, and is becoming a threat in the US. Having an effective treatment for this devastating infection could be a game changer.
Another new drug is called apixaban (Eliquis). It was approved to prevent strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation. The FDA also approved new drugs for hard-to-treat conditions such as Cushing’s disease, cystic fibrosis, breast cancer and HIV.