Is accutane a restricted prescription?
Isotretinoin
Isotretinoin is a teratogen; there is about a 20–35% risk for congenital defects in infants exposed to the drug in utero, and about 30–60% of children exposed to isotretinoin prenatally have been reported to show neurocognitive impairment.[11] Because of this, there are strict controls on prescribing isotretinoin to women who may become pregnant and women who become pregnant while taking isotretinoin are strongly advised to terminate their pregnancies.[11]
Anecortave acetate
Retaane (15 mg anecortave acetate depot suspension) which is manufactured by Alcon, Inc., was a fast track designated product which was also a drug in FDA’s Pilot Continuous Marketing Application (CMA) program which often enrolls drugs which are being brought to the market and have an indication for a significant unmet medical need. This allowed Retaane to file with the FDA using a “rolling” New Drug Application, which allows specific units, Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC), pre-clinical, and the clinical unit, of the NDA to be reviewed as they are completed instead of as one large document. This allows the FDA to review each unit within six months of the submission. Alcon first filed the CMC unit in 2003, the Pre-clinical and Clinical units in 2004. In 2005 Alcon, Inc. announced they received the approval letter for the NDA for Retaane.