Licensing

WASHINGTON — The country's largest organization that certifies pharmacy technicians has a new leader.

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board announced Thursday the selection of retired Air Force colonel Everett McAllister as its new executive director and CEO, replacing interim executive director William Schimmel, who will return to his role of associate director.

WASHINGTON — The National Community Pharmacists Association last week sent a follow-up letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asking the agency to revisit a decision last month that effectively requires some pharmacies to pay duplicative fee-for-service Medicare enrollment/revalidation fees, according to the association.

WASHINGTON — An organization that certifies pharmacy technicians is starting a program designed to encourage more technicians to get certified.

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board announced Tuesday the launch of the Employer Partnership Program, which it said was for retail and health-system pharmacies that want to encourage technicians to participate in the PTCB certification program. North Carolina regional chain Kerr Drug already has joined the program, according to PTCB.

WATERTOWN, Mass. — Novartis plans to pay up to $440 million for rights to a drug for treating hepatitis C made by Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Enanta said.

Enanta said it had made a licensing agreement with the Swiss drug maker for the worldwide development, manufacturing and commercialization of the drug EDP-239, which works by inhibiting NS5A, a protein that is key to the virus' replication.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Fake versions of a cancer drug made by Roche's U.S. unit have entered the United States, the Food and Drug Administration warned Wednesday.

The FDA advised healthcare professionals and patients that a counterfeit version of Genentech's Avastin (bevacizumab) had been distributed in the United States. The agency said the counterfeit versions carried Roche's logo instead of Genentech's and displayed batch numbers starting with B6010, B6011 or B86017.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Subsidiaries of Watson Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson have settled a lawsuit filed by the latter when Watson attempted to market a generic version of one of its contraceptive drugs.

HAYWARD, Calif. — Impax Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday that it obtained exclusive U.S. commercial rights to a drug for migraine headaches made by AstraZeneca.

NEW YORK — Pharmacists in Florida are hoping to expand the kinds of vaccinations they can administer, according to published reports.

Tallahassee, Fla., CBS affiliate WTSP reported that a bill proposed in the state legislature would allow pharmacists to administer shots to prevent pneumonia and shingles. While pharmacists in Florida have been able to administer flu shots since 2007, the state remains one of the few where they can't administer pneumonia and shingles shots.

A committee in the state House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill, WTSP reported.