Branded

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A majority of Americans say chronic pain ranks far below drug addiction as a major health problem, according to a new poll.

NEW YORK — A desire to save money is driving younger and older adults to request cheaper drugs from their doctors, but it's also driving younger adults not to take their drugs as prescribed, according to a new study.

NEW YORK — An experimental drug developed by AstraZeneca for rheumatoid arthritis produced mixed results in measurements of patients' conditions, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial.

AstraZeneca announced initial results of the phase-3 "OSKIRA-1" trial of fostamatinib, which it calls the first oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor in development for RA.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Novo Nordisk has launched a diabetes awareness sweepstakes in which the winners get a free trip to the 2013 IndyCar finale, the Danish drug maker said Friday.

The company announced that it had hired IZOD IndyCar Series Charlie Kimball as spokesman for its Race with Insulin contest. Kimball, the first licensed driver with diabetes to race at the highest level of the series, was diagnosed with the disease during a routine doctor visit in 2007 while racing in Europe and is a user of Novo Nordisk's NovoLog (insulin aspart [rDNA origin]).

ST. LOUIS — More than 90 runners signed on to join Team Walgreens/Team Tori last month at the 2013 St. Louis Undy 5000 in support of 24-year old Tori Riley. The team raised more than $1,000 in support, half contributed to the Colon Cancer Alliance and the other half to Team Tori, through T-shirt sales, raffles for Walgreens beauty bags and silent auctions that included St. Louis Cardinals tickets, among other items.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Actavis will market and distribute an authorized generic version of a genital herpes ointment made by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, the companies said Friday.

The agreement centers around Zovirax, known generically as acyclovir, in the 5% strength. The Food and Drug Administration approved the generic version, made by Mylan, on Wednesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

NEW YORK — Novartis is promoting the multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya to young people with a new ad campaign in several national magazine's and websites, according to published reports.

The New York Times reported that the Swiss drug maker had placed ads for its "Hey MS, Take This!" campaign in People, Shape and Self, as well as the website of women's magazines, in addition to online videos. The generic name of Gilenya is fingolimod.

MONTREAL — The Food and Drug Administration approval this week of a generic genital herpes ointment made by Mylan could make a slight dent in the stock price of the company that makes the branded version.

Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said that while it expected Mylan to receive approval for a generic version of Zovirax (acyclovir) ointment, it did not include the approval in its original budget expectations and thus expected its earnings per share in fiscal year 2013 to be reduced by 30 to 40 cents.