On March 2 the Community Prescription Service, a mail-order pharmacy associated with POZ magazine and specializing in HIV, announced that it is selling a compounded testosterone cream. This product is not generally available in pharmacies. ("Compounded" means that it is specially prepared by a pharmacist at the direction of a physician, not a packaged pharmaceutical product; compounded products do not have to pass most of the FDA requirements for approval of pharmaceuticals.) Topical testosterone has long been available (see Testosterone Cream and Gel Available; Prices Vary Greatly, AIDS Treatment News #307, November 20, 1998), but usually only through certain pharmacies which specialize in compounding.

With the CPS product, the physician specifies the starting dose per application, and the cream is made up accordingly. According to CPS, for most people, an appropriate starting dose is 12.5 mg of testosterone per application. The same controlled-substance regulations apply to topical testosterone as to the injected or patch forms of the drug.

For more information about this testosterone cream, call CPS at 800-842-0502.

Note: On February 29 Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the FDA had approved its AndroGel(TM) 1% testosterone gel "for replacement therapy in males for conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous testosterone" -- the first time the FDA has approved such a product. However, AndroGel is not expected to be widely available in pharmacies until mid-summer. Apparently AndroGel will deliver a somewhat higher dose of testosterone than the CPS cream.

Comment

We expect that the main practical difference between the products is that AndroGel will be much more expensive.

ISSN # 1052-4207

Copyright 2000 by John S. James. Permission granted for noncommercial reproduction, provided that our address and phone number are included if more than short quotations are used.

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