Generics

DUBLIN — A federal court in New Jersey has blocked an attempt by Mylan to market a generic version of a drug made by Warner Chilcott.

Warner Chilcott announced Thursday that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted its motion for a preliminary injunction against Mylan to prevent it from launching a generic version of the antibiotic Doryx (doxycycline) in the 150-mg strength until the court makes a decision relating to a patent covering the drug, which Warner Chilcott and Mayne Pharmaceuticals allege Mylan to have infringed.

PITTSBURGH — Generic drug maker Mylan has entered an agreement with Hoffmann La Roche concerning its version of an oral chemotherapy drug.

Mylan announced Wednesday that it had entered a settlement and license agreement with Hoffmann La Roche resolving a patent infringement lawsuit over Xeloda (capecitabine) tablets, a drug used to treat breast and colorectal cancers that have spread to other parts of the body.

WASHINGTON — Generic drugs have saved U.S. consumers and the healthcare system $931 billion over the last 10 years, according to a report released Wednesday by the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

Conducted on behalf of the GPhA by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics and IMS Health, the report found that use of generic prescription drugs saved nearly $158 billion in savings in 2010. Much of the savings from the last 10 years has come from newer generics, particularly those introduced since 2001.

WASHINGTON — Only one stakeholder stands to gain from the proposed merger of Express Scripts and Medco — and that would be the new “mega PBM” the deal would create, not payers, and definitely not patients, either.

PITTSBURGH — Mylan subsidiary Matrix Labs has received tentative approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its new drug application of a co-packaged antiretroviral treatment under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of a deep vein thrombosis treatment.

Watson Pharmaceuticals said that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals' abbreviated new drug application for enoxaparin sodium injection in the 100-mg/mL and 150-mg/mL strengths received approval from the FDA. Enoxaparin sodium injection is the generic equivalent of Sanofi's Lovenox.

NEW YORK — Fera Pharmaceuticals has appointed a new director of national accounts.

The drug maker said that Kevin Wingerter, who most recently served as senior buyer of pharmaceutical merchandising at Walmart, has joined the company. Wingerter brings more than 20 years of experience in procurement of both branded and generic pharmaceuticals, Fera said.

CINCINNATI — The vast majority of pharmaceutical overdoses in children that resulted in a trip to the emergency room resulted from self-ingestion, according to a study released Friday.