Generics

WASHINGTON — The Generic Pharmaceutical Association has named Ralph Neas as its new president and CEO, the group said Wednesday.

Neas, currently president and CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care, replaces Kathleen Jaeger, who stepped down as president and CEO of GPhA in May 2010 after eight years with the organization. The GPhA said it planned to spend September introducing Neas to stakeholders in a broad outreach effort.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The longer a person maintains a body mass index qualifying him or her as "obese," the greater risk he or she incurs in developing diabetes, a new study released Tuesday found.

PHILADELPHIA — Overweight people with lower back pain is more intense than people of normal weight with back pain, according to a recent study published in the Sept. 15 issue of Spine.

The study sets up another comorbidity associated with being overweight.

HAYWARD, Calif. — Impax Labs has appointed a new president of its generic pharmaceutical division.

The drug maker said that Carole Ben-Maimon will be responsible for expanding the generic business. Recently, Ben-Maimon served as Qualitest Pharmaceuticals' SVP corporate strategy consulting. Additionally, she served as the chairman of the board of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association from 2000 to 2003.

Ben-Maimon will report to Impax's president and CEO Larry Hsu.

LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Francesco International on Tuesday released a Rx-to-OTC projection report covering potential switches through 2016. The potential switches include drugs prescribed for chronic use or for asymptomatic conditions — two switch hurdles that to date have not cleared the Food and Drug Administration approval process.

NEW YORK — Pfizer and Dr. Reddy's have reached a settlement over the latter's efforts to launch a generic version of the world's top-selling drug, according to published reports.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic skeletal muscle relaxant made by Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Sagent said.

The generic drug maker announced the approval of orphenadrine citrate injection, which it will offer in 60-mg-per-2-mL, single-dose vials.

Various versions of the drug had sales of about $4.3 million in 2011, according to IMS Health.

WASHINGTON — Branded drugs sold under their generic names at a reduced price can reduce retail and wholesale drug prices, according to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC report found that when an authorized generic is introduced onto the market, it can lower the expected profits of the generic drug's manufacturer and, over the longer term, affect generic manufacturers' decisions to challenge patents covering branded drugs with low sales, though patent challenges by generic drug makers "remain robust."