Generics

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Commenting on a counterfeit pharmaceutical inter-agency working group report, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores stressed that it shares the goal of improving the public awareness of the risks posed from counterfeit drugs and unlawful online drug sellers, but expressed concern over the report's proposal to mandate a "track-and-trace" system in the United States, given the high cost it could pose for pharmacies.

PITTSBURGH — Patients that opt to fill their prescriptions through a $4 generic program could help garner societal savings of nearly $6 billion, a new study found.

NEW YORK — While several drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes are on the market, researchers have found that the best first-line option is metformin.

Led by Wendy Bennett, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, researchers reviewed 140 trials and 26 observational studies of head-to-head comparisons of monotherapy or combination therapy that reported intermediate or long-term clinical outcomes or harms of six oral diabetes medications.

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — A generic painkiller made by Watson Pharmaceuticals does not infringe on the patent covering the branded version, a U.S. District Court has ruled.

Watson said the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled that Watson’s generic version of Cephalon’s Fentora (fentanyl buccal tablets) does not infringe on two patents that were set to expire in March 2019, according to Food and Drug Administration records.

WASHINGTON — Five senators have issued a letter to Food and Drug Administration commissioner Margaret Hamburg to expand Americans' access to affordable medications by avoiding the delay of generic drug approvals.

WASHINGTON — By 2015, “pharmacists will be the healthcare professionals responsible for providing patient care that ensures optimal medication therapy outcomes.” That was the consensus reached in the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners' vision statement at the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board’s Consumer Awareness, Resources, Education, State Policy and Testing Summit last month.

NEW YORK — "Fake drugs are a big threat and an exploding threat," Kumar Kibble, deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the news program "60 Minutes" in a segment that appeared Sunday night.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Hospira has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a generic cancer treatment.

Hospira will offer 20-mg, 80-mg and 160-mg vials of docetaxel at a 10-mg/mL concentration. Docetaxel is a generic version of Sanofi-Aventis's Taxotere.

Hospira already markets docetaxel in Europe and Australia, the drug maker noted.