Branded

Increases in the prices of prescription drugs have far outpaced the rate of general inflation over the years, as increases in the prices of branded and specialty drugs have offset decreases in the prices of generics, according to a new report by AARP’s research arm.


The study, conducted by AARP’s Public Policy Institute, found that the cumulative change in drug prices from 2005 to 2009 was almost double the rate of inflation. As a result, the average annual cost of drug therapy continued to rise.


NEW YORK — A federal court has dismissed a case that drug maker AstraZeneca filed against regulators regarding a drug used to treat psychotic and bipolar disorders, the company said Monday.

JERUSALEM — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Teva for treating allergies, the company said Monday.

Teva announced the approval of Qnasl (beclomethasone dipropionate) for seasonal and year-round nasal allergies in patients ages 12 years and older. The company said the drug, a "dry" nasal aerosol, would become available next month.

SUPPLIER NEWS — A drug under development by Forest Labs and Pierre Fabre has been shown to reduce symptoms of major depressive disorder, the companies said. New York-based Forest and Paris-based Pierre Fabre announced results of a phase-3 trial of levomilnacipran, saying the drug showed reductions in symptoms as early as one week after treatment was started. The companies expect results of another phase-3 trial of the drug this spring.


SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration's director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Janet Woodcock, on Thursday identified three tools the agency wanted to use in potentially increasing access to appropriate medicines in her opening remarks at the FDA Rx-to-OTC Switch Hearing held here.

PHILADELPHIA — A Food and Drug Administration expert panel delivered a favorable vote on a cancer drug made by GlaxoSmithKline.

GSK announced that the FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 11-2 that clinical trial data indicated a favorable risk-benefit profile of the drug Votrient (pazopanib) in patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma who have received chemotherapy. The drug is already approved for treating the kidney cancer renal cell carcinoma.

NEW YORK — An investigational Type 2 diabetes drug may improve glycemic control among patients that are unable to improve their blood sugar with high doses of insulin alone, according to a new study.

JERUSALEM — Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is switching stock exchanges, the company said.

The world's largest generic drug manufacturer — and increasingly a player in branded and specialty drugs — announced Wednesday that it would transfer the listing of its shares from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange, with plans to start trading on the NYSE on May 30 under its current ticker symbol, "TEVA."