Generics

DEERFIELD Ill. — A Walgreens study released Wednesday has found that patients starting high cholesterol medication for the first time who participated in enhanced face-to-face counseling sessions with a community pharmacist demonstrated better medication adherence than those who did not participate in the sessions.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Generic drug maker Watson Pharmaceuticals has entered a settlement that will allow it to launch a generic patch used to treat post herpetic neuralgia, a pain disorder associated with shingles.

Watson announced Tuesday a settlement through one of its subsidiaries with Endo Pharmaceuticals and Teikoku Seiyaku Co. over its generic version of Lidoderm (lidocaine) topical patch. Lidoderm had sales of $1.2 billion during the 12-month period ended in March 2012, according to IMS Health.

PITTSBURGH — Mylan on Tuesday announced that its subsidiary has received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its abbreviated new drug application for atorvastatin calcium tablets, a generic version of Pfizer's Lipitor.

The drug maker said Mylan Labs (formerly Matrix Labs) received the go-ahead to market the drug in the 10-mg, 20-mg, 40-mg and 80-mg strengths. Lipitor had U.S. sales of $8.1 billion for the 12 months ended in March, according to IMS Health.

PITTSBURGH — A unit of generic drug maker Mylan has settled with Sunovion Pharmaceuticals over a drug used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.

Mylan announced Tuesday that it had reached a settlement in a patent litigation suit that Sunovion, which used to operate under the name Sepracor, had filed against Dey Pharma, now known as Mylan Specialty, concerning the drug Xopenex (levalbuterol hydrochloride).

JERUSALEM — Teva has shuffled some of its executives in an effort to effectively compete in the U.S. generics market, according to published reports.

MUMBAI, India — Generic drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries appointed a new chairman as the company announced big jumps in fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2012 sales and profits.

The drug maker announced the appointment of former Teva Pharmaceutical Industries president and CEO Israel Makov as chairman. Makov, who began working for Teva in 1995, and led it as president and CEO from 2002 to 2007, is widely credited with that company becoming the world's largest generic drug maker and one of the world's largest drug makers overall.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The $317 billion problem of medication nonadherence has many sources that often combine and overlap in complex ways. But fears of whether a drug is safe and will work are among of the most frequently cited reasons why patients don't take their drugs as prescribed, or don't take them at all.

CHADDS FORD, Pa. — The parent company of Endo Pharmaceuticals has changed its name, the company said.

Shareholders of Endo Pharmaceutical Holdings voted at the company's annual shareholder meeting Wednesday to change the company's name to Endo Health Solutions. The company said the name change would more accurately reflect its new business model, which aggregates four operating businesses into one enterprise.