Eltrombopag

Eltrombopag was initially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  on November 20, 2008, for the treatment of throm bocytopenia  in patients with chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura who have had an insufficient response to be   corticosteroids,  immunoglobulin therapy, or splenectomy. Eltrombopag is used to treat low blood platelet counts in adults with chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenia (ITP), when certain other medicines, or surgery to remove the spleen, have not worked well enough. ITP is a condition that may cause unusual bruising or bleeding due to an abnormally low number of platelets in the blood. Eltrombopag has also been recently approved (late 2012) for the treatment of thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet counts) in patients with chronic hepatitis C to allow them to initiate and maintain interferon-based therapy.