Branded

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration is reorganizing its division for regulating cancer drugs, the agency said Monday.

The FDA said it would rename the Office of Oncology Products the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products. The office, which is responsible for reviewing regulatory applications for pharmaceutical and biotech drugs for cancer, is overseen by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Office of Oncology Products director Richard Pazdur will continue as director of the OHOP.

It’s hard to disagree that generic drug companies have had a good run for the last several years. Branded drug companies developed a large number of drugs that proved highly effective at treating widespread medical conditions and became blockbusters, garnering billions of dollars in sales in the United States alone. As patents on these blockbuster drugs have expired, they’ve provided generic manufacturers with enormous revenues, helping some to join the ranks of the world’s biggest drug companies.


SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Genentech has applied for Food and Drug Administration approval of a drug for treating skin cancer, the drug maker said Monday.

Genentech, the U.S. division of Swiss drug maker Roche, submitted a new drug application to the FDA for vismodegib for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma. BCC generally is curable through surgery, but if it advances, can cause disfigurement and debilitating effects and, in the long term, can be life-threatening.

LISBON, Portugal — Patients treated with a long-acting drug for Type 2 diabetes experienced a reduction in cardiovascular health risk factors, according to results of a study presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes' annual meeting.

The issue of patent settlements, their effect on drug prices and availability, and by extension their legality has been around for a long time and will likely remain an issue for years to come. But according to a report released in May by the Federal Trade Commission, the settlements have been on the rise, increasing from 16 in 2009 to 31 in 2010.


DEERFIELD, Ill. — With more than 1 million fans on Facebook and the largest following on Foursquare among chain drug store retailers, Walgreens is using these social media platforms to let its customers help distribute more than $6 million in free flu shot vouchers to five national charities, the Chicago-area chain announced Friday.

Walgreens is working with the American Diabetes Association, AmeriCares, Feeding America, League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Urban League on an initiative to help provide up to 200,000 flu shot vouchers.

INDIANAPOLIS — A few months after launching its multichannel platform to inform and educate patients about healthy eating, physical activity and stress management, drug maker Eli Lilly has debuted a new YouTube channel.

RIDGEFIELD, Conn., and INDIANAPOLIS — Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly will present data from their diabetes portfolio at the 47th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Lisbon, Portugal.