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NEW YORK — Johnson & Johnson and Pharmacyclics have added a New York-based specialty pharmacy company focused on cancer to their limited-distribution network for a drug recently approved for a rare form of blood cancer.

Onco360 said Wednesday that it had become part of the network for distributing Imbruvica (ibrutinib) capsules. The announcement came the same day that the Food and Drug Adminsitration announced the approval of Imbruvica (ibrutinib) for mantle cell lymphoma, or MCL.

WASHINGTON — As cold and flu season kicks into high gear, the Acetaminophen Awareness Coalition on Tuesday issued a nationwide safety message urging consumers to double-check their medicine labels so they don’t double-up on medicines that contain acetaminophen when treating winter illnesses. 

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for treating a rare and aggressive type of blood cancer, the agency said Wednesday.

The FDA announced the approval of Imbruvica (ibrutinib), marketed by Pharmacyclics and Johnson & Johnson, for treating mantle cell lymphoma, or MCL. MCL is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and represents about 6% of all non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in the United States. Millennium Pharmaceuticals' Velcade (bortezomib) and Celgene's Revlimid (lenalidomide) are also approved for treating MCL.

MASON, Ohio — Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Co. has appointed Don Wetherhold as its CEO, the company said Monday.

Wetherhold is returning to Aprecia after a term as SVP long-term care at Omnicare; prior to that, he was Aprecia's corporate commercialization officer.

"We are thrilled to have Don back at Aprecia, and we look forward to the leadership he will bring to this role," Aprecia chairman E. Thomas Arington. "Don was instrumental in devising our commercialization strategy at Aprecia."

BASEL, Switzerland — Swiss drug maker Novartis is selling its blood transfusion diagnostics business to a Spanish manufacturer for $1.675 billion, Novartis said Monday.

The drug maker said it expected the sale, to Grifols, to be completed in 2014. Novartis bought the Emeryville, Calif.-based unit in 2006 as part of its acquisition of Chiron. Its sales in 2012 were about $565 million. Grifols is headquartered in Barcelona.

DUBLIN — Shire will pay $4.2 billion to buy a drug maker specializing in treatments for rare diseases.

Shire, headquartered in Ireland, said the $50-per-share acquisition of ViroPharma would strengthen its rare disease portfolio. Exton, Pa.-based ViroPharma's products include the hereditary angioedema drug Cinryze (C1 esterase inhibitor [human]) and Vancocin (vancomycin hydrochloride), used to treat Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea.

WASHINGTON — Boehringer Ingelheim SVP managed markets Jeff Huth has been elected by the National Pharmaceutical Council as chairman of the board for 2013-2014, the organization said Friday.

Huth has served as a member of the NPC's board since 2009 and has previously had the positions of vice chairman and treasurer. The NPC, founded in 1953, describes itself as a health policy research organization focused on the advancement of science and medical innovation.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for treating epileptic seizures, the agency said Friday.

The FDA announced the approval of Aptiom (eslicarbazepine acetate), made by Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, as an add-on medication for seizures in adults. About 200,000 new cases of seizures and epilepsy occur in the United States each year, according to the FDA.