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WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — Merck announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled against the company in a patent infringement suit against Canada-based drug maker Apotex.

MONTREAL — Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has agreed to acquire a specialty oral health company that develops and commercializes products that improve and maintain oral health.

Valeant said it is acquiring OraPharma from private equity firm Water Street Healthcare Partners for $312 million. The drug maker also said it will pay $114 million in potential contingent payments based on certain milestones.

PHILADELPHIA — GlaxoSmithKline has received regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a vaccine designed to prevent invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups C and Y and Haemophilus influenzae type B.

MenHibrix (Meningococcal Groups C and Y and Haemophilus b Tetanus Toxoid conjugate vaccine) is approved for use in children ages six weeks through 18 months. The vaccination schedule is a four-dose series given at two, four, six, and 12 through 15 months of age.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — A new Walgreens study released Thursday found that a pharmacist-led training and counseling program for patients receiving an injectable diabetes medication improved medication adherence by 24%.

NEW YORK — Kadmon Pharmaceuticals earlier this month announced that it has launched a new 600 mg/day dose pack of Ribasphere RibaPak (ribavirin, USP), Kadmon's proprietary ribavirin regimen available in a daily, two-pill compliance package for enhanced therapy adherence.

The new dose pack is designed to provide added dosing control to improve the management of hemolytic anemia in certain patients prescribed the triple therapy of a protease inhibitor, pegylated alpha interferon and ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

BEVERLY, Mass. — Cellceutix on Wednesday reported that the Food and Drug Administration granted a section 505(b) designation for its Prurisol treatment for psoriasis, which would allow the company to forgo early-stage trials and advance Prurisol into latter-stage clinical trials.

NEW YORK — Novo Nordisk and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on Wednesday announced the creation of a joint research and development team to discover and develop novel immunotherapies to prevent, treat and help cure Type 1 diabetes.

LONDON — Stiefel, a GlaxoSmithKline company, on Monday acquired the eczema remedy Toctino (alitretinoin) from Basilea Pharmaceutica.

“Toctino is an important and growing product that complements the Stiefel portfolio and offers a proven therapy for patients with a significant unmet medical need," stated Simon Jose, Stiefel president. "This acquisition gives us an immediate opportunity to develop and expand the availability of this new and innovative product of value, and reinforces Stiefel and GSK’s commitment to dermatology.”