Generics

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Generic drug maker Hospira has appointed Mike Ball as CEO, effective March 28, the company said. Ball currently is president of Allergan.

Ball, who also was appointed to the company’s board, will replace Christopher Begley, who will assume the role of executive chairman.

CHADDS FORD, Pa. — Endo's board of directors has expanded to nine members with the addition of David Nash.

Nash, who is the founding dean of the Jefferson School of Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, also serves as a board member for Humana.

Endo chairman, Roger Kimmel, said the board welcomes Nash's contributions as Endo continues to diversify its business.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals has won approval from the Food and Drug Administration for an oral contraceptive.

Qualitest Pharmaceuticals announced Friday the approval of Emoquette (desogestrel and ethinyl estradiol) tablets in the 0.15-mg/0.03-mg strength.

The drug is a generic version of Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho-Cept.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Pregnant mothers taking a common drug for treating epilepsy may be putting their babies at risk, according to a new report from the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA said Friday that the drug topiramate could increase the risk for such birth defects as cleft palate and cleft lip when used by expectant mothers. Johnson & Johnson markets the drug under the name Topamax, and it is available in generic form.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Hospira launched a new online resource that catalogs all of its products available in the United States.

Hospira said that the U.S. product catalog, available at Hospira.com/catalog, allows customers, including healthcare facilities and medical care providers, to search Hospira's more than 1,200 products in a variety of ways: alphabetically, by product name, by list number or by therapeutic class.

SUPPLIER NEWS — Impax Labs received regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its generic version of a bacterial infection treatment. The drug maker said the FDA approved its 150-mg doxycycline monohydrate capsules, a drug used to treat bacterial infections and a generic version of Adoxa, made by Nycomed subsidiary PharmaDerm. The 150-mg strength of Adoxa had sales of about $25 million during the 12 months ended in December 2010, according to Wolters Kluwer.

WASHINGTON — The head of a group representing the nation's pharmacy benefit managers got honors from the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association announced Thursday that president and CEO Mark Merritt had received the GPhA’s Outstanding Contribution Award at the generic drug industry group’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. The organization has advocated increased generic drug utilization and found common cause with the generics industry in its support for follow-on biologics.

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic drug for pain and inflammatory diseases made by Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Amneal said Thursday.

The FDA approved indomethacin extended-release capsules in the 75-mg strength. The drug is used to treat pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, bursitis and tendonitis.