Content about Branded

BRUSSELS — UCB announced that it will add two members to its executive committee, effective July 1.

The drug maker said that Greg Duncan, currently SVP and president of UCB’s North American operations, and Jean-Christophe Tellier, who is joining the company from Ipsen, now are the heads of the U.S. and European commercial operations, respectively.

NEW YORK — Several states are cutting funding to programs that provide HIV medications to people who can’t afford them in an effort to reduce spending, according to a published report.

The Washington Post reported that more than 8,300 people are on waiting lists to obtain antiretrovirals and other drugs that treat HIV, AIDS and related conditions. The Post article highlighted particularly large program cuts in Illinois and Georgia, as well as one proposed for Florida.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a treatment for hepatitis C made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the agency said Monday.

The FDA approved Incivek (telaprevir) to treat adults with chronic hepatitis C infection, particularly those who either have not received interferon-based drug therapy or who have not responded to prior therapies. The drug is approved for use with therapies that include ribavirin and peginterferon alfa.

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a Pfizer drug for treating pancreatic tumors.

Pfizer announced Friday the approval of Sutent (sunitinib malate) for the treatment of progressive, well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in patients with locally advanced disease that can’t be removed through surgery. Pancreatic NET is a rare cancer reported in 2 million to 4 million people worldwide every year.

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. — A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee has voted to recommend that the FDA retain approval of an Abbott drug for high cholesterol in combination with a statin.

The FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee met Thursday to discuss whether to recommend continued FDA approval of Trilipix (fenofibric acid) in combination with simvastatin in patients with mixed dyslipidemia and a high risk of heart disease. The FDA is not bound by advisory committee votes, but usually follows them.

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. — A drug for cardiovascular disease made by Boehringer Ingelheim has received preferred formulary status with AARP’s Medicare Part D plans, the drug maker said Thursday.

BI announced that Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) received preferred Tier 2 formulary status through AARP’s pharmacy benefit manager, Prescription Solutions. The Food and Drug Administration approved Pradaxa in October 2010 to reduce the risk of stroke and embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Global spending on medicines will reach nearly $1.1 trillion by 2015, according to a new study by market research firm IMS Health.

WASHINGTON — A branded drug made by Watson Pharmaceuticals reduced symptoms in men with prostate disease, according to results of a mid-stage clinical trial.

Data from the phase-2 study of the drug Rapaflo (silodosin) presented at the American Urological Association’s annual meeting showed that it reduced symptoms and improved outcomes in men with chronic prostatitis/pelvic pain syndrome, also known as CP/CPPS.

SAN DIEGO — Amylin Pharmaceuticals filed suit against Eli Lilly in federal court Monday concerning an agreement between the latter and German drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim to develop drugs for diabetes.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Amylin said Lilly engaged in unlawful and anticompetitive activity in its development and commercialization agreement with BI for Tradjenta (linagliptin), an orally administered Type 2 diabetes drug that the Food and Drug Administration recently approved.

INDIANAPOLIS — Drug maker Eli Lilly will present data from more than 30 studies at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago next month, the company said Monday.

Studies will include “PARAMOUNT,” a late-stage clinical trial investigating the drug Alimta (pemetrexed) in patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, as well as studies on Gemzar (gemcitabine) and Erbitux (cetuximab) with partner companies Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck KGaA.

SILVER SPRING, Md.— The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for chronic hepatitis C, the agency said Friday.

The FDA announced the approval of Merck’s Victrelis (boceprevir) for patients with the disease. The drug is designed for patients who still have some liver function and have not previously received treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection or have failed previous treatments. The drug is approved for use in combination with the generic drug ribavirin and pegylated interferons, biotech drugs used for treating the disease.

NEW YORK — Patients taking cardiovascular drugs may become less adherent if they have to see multiple physicians and make frequent trips to the pharmacy, according to a new study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston and CVS Caremark analyzed data from 1.8 million patients taking statins and 1.5 million taking angiotensin receptor blockers or angiotensin-converting enzymes from between June 2006 and May 2007.