Generics

WASHINGTON — Two senators are trying to get the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to take up a bill that would ban so-called "pay-for-delay" patent settlements between brand and generic drug companies, according to published reports.

The Pharma Letter reported that Sens. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had urged the "super committee" to support a bill that would ban settlements that include any form of payment in exchange for holding off launch of a generic drug.

CINCINNATI — Prasco Labs will make authorized generic versions of two psychiatric drugs made by Eli Lilly under a partnership between the two companies announced Thursday.

Prasco will market authorized generic versions of Zyprexa (olanzapine) tablets and Zyprexa Zydis orally disintegrating tablets. The drugs are used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

PASADENA, Calif. — African-American women who develop gestational diabetes mellitus during pregnancy face a 52% increased risk of developing diabetes in the future, compared with white women who develop GDM during pregnancy, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online Thursday in the journal Diabetologia.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 55-45 Thursday to scrap an appropriations bill amendment that would have allowed personal importation of prescription drugs.

The amendment had been proposed for the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The Senate's vote drew applause from an organization representing retail pharmacy chains.

MAYWOOD, Ill. — On average, 20,000 children under the age of 5 years are hospitalized due to flu symptoms each year, the Loyola University Health System announced Thursday in a press release encouraging parents to have their children inoculated.

PITTSBURGH — Generic drug maker Mylan has settled with Warner Chilcott in a case concerning an oral contraceptive.

Mylan said Wednesday that it and Famy Care had entered into an agreement with Warner Chilcott resolving a lawsuit over Femcon Fe (norethindrone and ethinyl estradiol chewable tablets, ferrous fumarate tablets).

PITTSBURGH — Mylan's India-based subsidiary is changing its name, Mylan said Wednesday.

The generic drug maker announced that Matrix Labs, based in Hyderabad, India, had formally changed its name to Mylan Labs.

"We are pleased to complete the name change from Matrix to a Mylan company and are excited to operate in India under one powerful brand," Mylan chairman and CEO Robert Coury said.

Mylan acquired Matrix in 2006.

RARITAN, N.J. — Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, in partnership with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, on Wednesday released a survey that determined consumers would more likely discuss health-and-wellness plans with their doctors, and take action, if they understood their blood test numbers.