Branded

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — Par Pharmaceutical Cos. has contracted with AstraZeneca to distribute an authorized generic version of a drug used to treat high blood pressure, Par said.

Par announced that it had entered a supply and distribution agreement through subsidiary Par Pharmaceutical to distribute an authorized generic version of Atacand HCT (i.e., candesartan cilexetil and hydrochlorothiazide) tablets.

An authorized generic is a branded drug marketed under its generic name at a discounted price, usually through a third-party company.

HORSHAM, Pa. — Johnson & Johnson is seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a drug to treat active psoriatic arthritis, the company said Thursday.

J&J subsidiary Janssen Biotech submitted an application to the FDA for Stelara (ustekinumab) for adult patients with the disease, which affects more than 2 million people in the United States, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation. Another subsidiary is seeking approval for Stelara for the same usage in Europe.

BAGSVÆRD, Denmark — Drug maker Novo Nordisk is creating what it calls the world's first all-diabetes professional cycling team, the company said.

The Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer announced plans to create Team Novo Nordisk, a global team with more than 100 cyclists, triathletes and runners, all of whom have diabetes.

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — AmerisourceBergen on Wednesday named Peyton Howell SVP AmerisourceBergen and president, global sourcing and manufacturer relations, effective immediately. 

CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday joined representatives from Walgreens to celebrate the grand opening of a new Walgreens flagship store in the Bucktown-Wicker Park neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon, taking the opportunity to remind Chicagoans about the importance of getting a flu shot this season.

ATLANTA — The influenza season is officially underway as flu incidence is already above the national threshold, Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters during a teleconference Monday. "This is the earliest regular flu season we've had in nearly a decade, since the 2003-2004 flu season," he said. "That was an early and severe flu year, and while flu is always unpredictable, the early nature of the cases as well as the specific strains we're seeing suggest that this could be a bad flu year."

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration will review an acid-reflux drug made by Eisai for use in children, the drug maker said.

Eisai said the FDA accepted its application for AcipHex delayed-release sprinkle capsules in the 5-mg and 10-mg strengths for healing of gastroesophageal reflux disease, and maintenance of healing of GERD and improvement of symptoms in children ages 1 year to 11 years.

The FDA expects to have the application reviewed by March 27, 2013. The drug is currently approved in the 20-mg strength for adolescents and adults.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — Merck has started a clinical trial that it hopes will eventually enroll 1,700 patients to evaluate an experimental drug for Alzheimer's disease, the company said.

Merck announced the start of "EPOCH," a combined phase-2 and phase-3 study of the drug MK-8931, a 78-week trial in which patients will take either the drug in the 12-mg, 40-mg or 60-mg doses or placebo.