Branded

INDIANAPOLIS – Eli Lilly is spending $140 million to expand its insulin manufacturing plant in Indianapolis, the drug maker said.

Lilly said it would expand the plant by 80,000 sq. ft., saying it represented one of the most significant investments in its U.S. manufacturing operations in the past decade. Construction is expected to start immediately, with completion planned for March 2014.

PITTSBURGH — Bayer on Friday announced that it is providing monetary support for disaster relief efforts through donations totaling $150,000 from the Bayer USA Foundation. 

The American Red Cross and Save the Children will each receive $75,000. 

“When millions of people are affected by devastation in the form of natural disasters, it is important to be able to provide assistance to families and communities in a time of great need,” stated Tracy Spagnol, chairperson of the Bayer USA Foundation.

MINNETONKA, Minn. — A majority of Americans recognize the threat diabetes poses to the nation’s health and have a solid understanding about the disease and its consequences, according to a new survey from UnitedHealth Group released Thursday. 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Watson Pharmaceuticals is changing its name to Actavis following its acquisition of the Swiss drug maker, Watson said.

Watson, whose $5.6 billion acquisition of Actavis received approval from the Federal Trade Commission earlier this month, said it would adopt the new name starting in 2013, with plans to start a multi-year rebranding campaign and trade under a new symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — About 97% of online pharmacies are "rogue" operations operating outside U.S. laws and regulations, according to a new report.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved what it called the second new drug in two months for a form of leukemia, the agency said Friday.

The FDA announced the approval of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' Synribo (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) for chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, a disease that the National Institutes of Health expects will be diagnosed in more than 5,400 people this year. The drug is intended for patients whose disease has progressed after treatment with at least two drugs of a class used to treat the disease.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has declined to approve a drug developed by United Therapeutics Corp. for treating a potentially lethal high blood pressure condition.

The drug maker said it received a complete response letter from the agency for its application for a tablet formulation of the drug treprostinil. The company already markets the drug in injectable and inhaled formulations for pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH, a condition that causes high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Several cities across the country will play host to a new program from one drug maker to recycle respiratory inhalers.

Calling it the first program of its kind in the pharmaceutical industry, GlaxoSmithKline announced Wednesday the Complete the Cycle program, which it announced last month and for which it is currently enrolling pharmacies. Inhalers usually go to landfills because they can't be recycled by curbside recyclers.