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NEW YORK — Drug maker Keryx Biopharmaceuticals got promising results from a late-stage clinical trial of a drug for treating elevated phosphate levels, also known as hyperphosphatemia, in patients on kidney dialysis, the company said Tuesday.

In a phase-3 trial, Zerenex (ferric citrate) significantly reduced phosphate levels in patients with end-stage kidney disease on dialysis.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — The president of drug maker Merck now will fill an additional position at the company: CEO.

Merck's board of directors elected president and board member Kenneth Frazier as the company's next leader, effective Jan. 1. Frazier will succeed Richard Clark, who has served as Merck's CEO since 2005. Clark will continue as chairman of the board, the drug maker said.

NEW YORK — Recent public perception that the Food and Drug Administration had not been doing its job — ensuring that Americans' approved medical devices and medicines are relatively safe — may be impeding fast approval processes, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report published Tuesday.

The report, “Improving America’s Health V,” determined that the FDA’s renewed vigor for enforcing regulations may be straining the working relationship between regulator and the industry being regulated.

ROCKLAND, Mass. — The Food and Drug Administration has extended its review period for a multiple sclerosis drug made by EMD Serono, the drug maker said Friday.

EMD Serono — the U.S. subsidiary of German drug maker Merck KGaA, which uses the name to avoid confusion with U.S.-based Merck — said the FDA had extended the review time for cladribine tablets to Feb. 28. The drug is a disease-modifying drug for relapsing MS.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens' chief medical officer will discuss the evidence-based medicine design and impact of a diabetes management program delivered by pharmacists at both workplace and community pharmacies during an upcoming conference, the drug store chain said.

MINNETONKA, Minn. — UnitedHealth Group will start a program next year that it said can reduce drug costs to as low as $2 per script, the company said Tuesday.

The program, Pharmacy Saver, will be available to Medicare Part D members and is a collaboration with Kroger, Safeway and Prescription Solutions. The program will allow members to purchase some scripts for $2 for 30- and some 90-day supplies and applies to hundreds of prescription drugs, including 8-of-the-10 most commonly used by UnitedHealthcare Medicare plan members.

ST. LOUIS — Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s, one of the greatest advances has been antiviral drugs that have helped extend the lives of patients with viral infections.

NEW YORK — A new study published in the Nov. 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine suggested there is a two-way relationship between depression and diabetes.