Specialty Pharmacy

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Sagent Pharmaceuticals has launched a generic version of a chemotherapy drug, the company said Thursday.

Sagent announced the launch of irinotecan injection, a generic version of Pfizer's Camptosar, in latex-free, preservative-free, single-dose vials.

Various versions of the drug had sales of about $28 million during the 12-month period ended in March, according to IMS Health.

AMBLER, Pa. — Wolters Kluwer Health has introduced what it called the first mobile application for the Nursing Drug Handbook, the company said Thursday.

Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, the app is available for Apple and Android devices and is a mobile version of the popular reference for nurses that includes weekly updates.

NEW YORK — An experimental kidney cancer drug made by Pfizer didn't extend the time in which patients survived without their disease worsening when compared with a competing drug, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial released Wednesday.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Specialty pharmacy group purchasing and channel management organization Armada Health Care is moving into a bigger office space, the company said Tuesday.

Armada announced that the new space, two floors up from its current offices at 100 Campus Drive in Florham Park, N.J., is nearly three times larger. The company plans to take possession of the new offices in late June and expects to use it to support its expanded service and technology divisions.

NEW YORK — Legislation proposed in the House of Representatives would speed up Food and Drug Administration approval of knock-off versions of vaccines and other biologics while requiring the agency to conduct more inspections of drug factories overseas, according to published reports.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the bills, sponsored by Republican Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, would create an expedited FDA approval pathway for follow-on versions of biogenetic medications such as vaccines and drugs made from human tissue and plasma.

NEW YORK — A former football coach is joining an effort to educate men about the risks of a deadly form of skin cancer.

Former National Football League Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher will work with Melanoma Exposed, an educational campaign run by the Melanoma International Foundation, Melanoma Research Alliance, Melanoma Research Foundation and the Skin Cancer Foundation, with sponsorship from drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb, the organizations announced Tuesday.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Schnuck Markets is opening a stand-alone pharmacy at a hospital in Illinois with an emphasis on specialty pharmacy services, the supermarket operator said.

Schnucks said the 2,000-sq.-ft. pharmacy at the pavilion of St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Ill., would be its first stand-alone specialty pharmacy in Illinois, specializing in such conditions as HIV, hepatitis, autoimmune disorders, organ transplants and cancers. The pharmacy replaces the specialty pharmacy at a nearby store, though the store's traditional pharmacy will remain.

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Gilead Sciences scored a second favorable Food and Drug Administration expert panel vote as the FDA's Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee recommended on Friday that the regulatory agency approve an experimental drug designed to treat HIV.