Specialty Pharmacy

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Biotech drug maker Amgen is buying a pharmaceutical company based in Turkey, the companies said Wednesday.

Amgen said it would acquire 95.6% of Istanbul-based Mustafa Nevzat for $700 million in an all-cash deal, saying the purchase would allow it to expand in Turkey and the surrounding region. The company, also known as MN, is a major supplier of injectable drugs in Turkey and, increasingly, an exporter of medicines.

NEW YORK — GlaxoSmithKline said its offer to buy Human Genome Sciences was "full and fair" Wednesday after HGS turned it down last week, according to published reports.

Reuters reported that GSK's $13-per-share, $2.6 billion offer for HGS would give the former full control of Benlysta (belimumab), the first new drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for lupus in more than half a century. The two companies developed the drug together under a partnership, and the drug received approval in March 2011.

ELMSFORD, N.Y. — Specialty pharmacy provider BioScrip has appointed Hai Tran as SVP, treasurer and CFO, the company said.

Effective May 14, Tran will replace M.J. Graves, who has served as the company's interim CFO and treasurer since January 2011.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Globalization has led to a rapid increase in the drugs and foods arriving on U.S. shores from abroad, a trend that has prompted U.S. regulators to transform their approach.

The Food and Drug Administration released a report Monday detailing its strategies for what it called transforming from a domestic to a global public health agency.

SAN DIEGO — Anglo-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca will buy a San Diego-based biotech company for $1.26 billion, the two said Monday.

BARCELONA, Spain — Merck is testing two means of treating patients with chronic hepatitis C for anemia, a common side effect of certain treatments for the viral infection, the drug maker said.

Merck announced results of a phase-3 study comparing two strategies for managing anemia and how they affect the curing of hepatitis C in patients taking Victrelis (boceprevir) with Pegintron (peginterferon alfa-2b) and ribavirin.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Drug maker Genzyme plans to present data from trial programs of two multiple sclerosis drugs at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting in New Orleans, which starts this Saturday and lasts until next Saturday.

Genzyme, owned by French drug maker Sanofi, will present results of 12 trials of the experimental drugs alemtuzumab and teriflunomide, including the phase-3 "CARE-MS II" trial, which compares alemtuzumab with Rebif (interferon beta-1a), made by Pfizer and Merck KGaA.

WASHINGTON — A trade organization representing generic drug manufacturers announced Thursday its latest solution to the problem of drug shortages.