Branded

NEW YORK — Drug maker Forest Labs has acquired worldwide rights to a drug developed by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals for treating arrhythmia.

Forest said Tuesday that it had purchased the rights to azimilide from Blue Ash Therapeutics and had been assigned a license agreement between Blue Ash and Warner Chilcott. Forest will assume responsibility for all future development and commercialization, including costs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

NEW YORK — A U.S. drug maker and its Japanese partner have started a late-stage clinical trial of a drug for treating elevated phosphate levels in the body, the two announced Monday.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals and Torii Pharmaceutical, the pharmaceuticals subsidiary of Japan Tobacco, started a phase-3 trial of Zerenex (ferric citrate) in Japan for patients with hyperphosphatemia. The drug also is in phase-3 trials in the United States as a treatment for hyperphosphatemia in patients with end-stage kidney disease on dialysis.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a drug made by Eli Lilly for treating a disease of the pancreas that often occurs in patients with cystic fibrosis, Lilly said.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Genentech for treating a rare and severe form of arthritis that affects children, Genentech said.

The biotech company, the U.S. division of Swiss drug maker Roche, announced the FDA approval of Actemra (tocilizumab) for active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. SJIA has the worst long-term prognosis of all varieties of childhood arthritis.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The main trade group representing branded drug makers gave an award to two Merck scientists who helped discover an oral medication for Type 2 diabetes.

NEW YORK — Drug stores may be best positioned to navigate any headwinds whipped up by rising fuel costs and may even benefit from them, a Credit Suisse analysis published Friday found.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Takeda Pharmaceutical has launched a new treatment for high blood pressure, the company said Friday.

Takeda announced the launch of Edarbi (azilsartan medoxomil), which the Food and Drug Administration approved on Feb. 25 as a once-daily pill for hypertension.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has received reports of a rare and usually deadly cancer in patients using a class of biotech drugs to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, the agency said Thursday.