A 26-member joint panel comprising the Food and Drug Administration's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management advisory committees voted to support modifying or removing the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy protocol for GlaxoSmithKline's Type 2 diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone).
Historically, the FDA has followed advisory committee votes when making a decision on the marketing of a drug even though it is not bound by them, but assuming the agency follows the panel's advice, it could mean a lot for the controversial drug and the way it's dispensed. But even if Avandia winds up on retail pharmacy shelves again, it faces a very different landscape from its heyday.
