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SILVER SPRING, Md. — In a blog post updated Friday, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Margaret Hamburg addressed two challenges facing Indian drug manufacturers — approval times for abbreviated new drug applications and quality inspections. 

ATLANTA — While flu activity declined slightly from the week prior, incidence of influenza-like illness rates remained above the national baseline for the week ended Feb. 8, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. 

Six states were still experiencing high ILI activity, including Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.

DUBLIN — Actavis and Forest Labs. on Tuesday announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Actavis will acquire Forest for a combination of cash and equity valued at approximately $25 billion, or $89.48 per Forest share ($26.04 in cash and 0.3306 Actavis shares for each share of Forest common stock). The per share consideration represents a premium of approximately 25% per share over Forest’s stock price, and a premium of approximately 31% over Forest’s 10-day volume weighted average stock price, as of the close of trading on Feb.

“No one gets paid unless patients improve adherence.”

That’s what Aaron McKethan, SVP of strategy and business development for RxAnte, had to say in a Jan. 13 article on Forbes.com, “A digital health acquisition to watch.” The story focused largely on RxAnte’s recent acquisition by Millennium Laboratories in December — which the author described as a “little-known, private equity-backed urine drug testing company” — and the technology it uses to improve patient adherence.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — After meeting for two days earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration's Arthritis Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee voted 16-9 against changing the label of naproxen to highlight a lower cardiovascular risk profile as compared to other NSAIDs, according to published reports. 

Those advisory panels who voted against the change felt the data were insufficient to say naproxen was safer than other NSAIDs.

JERUSALEM — Teva Pharmaceutical Industries on Thursday announced that the Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval of Synribo (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) for injection.

The drug is indicated for adult patients with chronic phase or accelerated phase chronic myeloid leukemia with resistance and/or intolerance to two or more tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

DUBLIN — Mallinckrodt and Cadence Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which a subsidiary of Mallinckrodt will commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Cadence Pharmaceuticals for $14.00 per share in cash or approximately $1.3 billion on a fully diluted basis, which represents a 32% premium to the trailing 30-trading-day volume weighted average price of $10.62 per share for Cadence Pharmaceuticals.

WASHINGTON — America’s biopharmaceutical research companies currently are developing 180 new medicines to help the nearly 400 million people who have diabetes worldwide, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America announced Tuesday. These medicines in development — all either in clinical trials or under review by the Food and Drug Administration — include 30 for type 1 diabetes, 100 for type 2 and 52 for diabetes-related conditions.