Pyridoxamine

Pyridoxamine (PM) is one form of vitamin B6. Chemically it is based on a pyridine ring structure, with hydroxyl, methyl, aminomethyl, and hydroxymethyl substituents. In the United States, the FDA ruled in January 2009 that it must be regulated as a pharmaceutical drug because it is the active ingredient in Pyridorin, a drug designed by Biostratum, Inc. to prevent the progression of diabetic nephropathy. In other preclinical research, pyrid Oxamine may be efficacious in treating diabetic neuropathy and retinopathy associated with diabetes and kidney stone disease. The FDA stated that the status of PyridOxamine in a dietary supplement is essentially equivalent to that of an investigational new drug as a result of an application filed by BioStratum in July 1999. This petition was opposed by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association of the dietary supplement industry, and effective on September 1, 1999, that "the marketing of pyrIDoxamine in dietary products is essentially the equivalent to the marketing of a new drug"