Specialty Pharmacy

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation is inviting health and pharmacy experts and other researchers to join the Herculean effort to improve patient adherence rates.

The invitation comes in the form of a new Request for Proposal, issued Tuesday by the NACDS Foundation. The foundation is seeking bids from research organizations to study primary medication nonadherence, which occurs when a patient fails to fill or pick up his or her newly prescribed medication.

SAN DIEGO — Pfizer will pay Danish biotech company Santaris Pharma $14 million for access to its development platform for RNA-based therapies, Pfizer said Tuesday.

The drug maker said the deal would expand on an existing one between Hoersholm, Denmark-based Santaris and Wyeth, which Pfizer acquired in 2009. Santaris could take in up to $600 million in milestone payments, as well as royalties on products developed under the collaboration.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Former president George W. Bush will deliver the keynote speech at Armada Health Care’s seventh annual Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit, the specialty pharmacy contracting organization said.

The conference, which will take place May 10 to 13 at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, is considered one of the top conferences in the U.S. drug industry.

NEW YORK — This past year saw a lower-than-usual number of new drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, due in part to delays at the agency, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that 21 new drugs were approved through the year, compared with 25 in 2009 and 24 in 2008. The lag came in part due to stricter safety regulations, the newspaper reported.

TITUSVILLE, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved an update to the label of a Johnson & Johnson drug for HIV, the company said Monday.

Tibotec Therapeutics, a subsidiary of J&J, said the FDA approved a 200-mg formulation of Intelence (etravirine) for treating HIV in patients who have taken previous treatments and whose virus has become resistant to antiretroviral drugs.

NEW YORK — One door closes; another door, well, closes. And that appears to be good news for Teva. Recent news that the Food and Drug Administration has rejected the drug maker's application for a new indication for multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone likely will mean the agency will not be so quick to approve a generic version of the drug without requiring a generic company to perform full clinical trials.

LISLE, Ill. — SXC Health Solutions announced Wednesday that it had completed its acquisition of independent specialty pharmacy provider MedfusionRx in a deal worth $100 million in cash, with an additional $5.5 million subject to the achievement of certain performance targets in fiscal year 2012.

The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act expired Dec. 24.

NEW YORK — More than 25% of children and teens take at least one medication on a daily basis, and nearly 7% are on two or more drugs, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing 2009 data from Medco Health Solutions. Drawing additional data from IMS Health, the article noted that prescriptions for hypertension in people under the age of 20 years could reach 5.5 million for 2010 by the time year-end results are tabulated, which would mark a rise of 17% since 2007.