FDA approves ADHD drug Vyvanse

Generic name: lisdexamfetamine
It is a d-amphetamine, like dexedrine.

Key points of this article:

Brought to you by the makers of Adderall XR, this amphetamine based drug is harder to abuse than previous stimulants because it does not activate until it gets to your stomach, and interacts with digestive enzymes. Makes it harder to crush and snort. Adderall XR goes generic in 2009, so Shire, owners of both, are right on schedule to maintain a brand name profit prescence.

This is a known phenomenon with many drug companies, termed by a colleague as a 'product life extender'. When celexa was going generic, lexapro became the new 'hot' drug. (It's just a 'cleaner' form of celexa. All this really means is that to maintain a brand named product and extend their profits, they need to make minor tweaks to a drug so that the new product can earn its own patent, and stay branded for another several years).

Vyvanse is still a schedule II drug, like all the other stimulants medications.

It just got approved today, and I can't even find any dosing information online yet, so I probably won't be prescribing it for at least another several months, since these things take time to sort out. Officially comes out 2nd quarter of this year (2007).