Content about Food and Drug Administration

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday advised the Food and Drug Administration to establish a time frame on New Dietary Ingredient guidance, as well as guidance clarifying whether a liquid product may be labeled and marketed as a dietary supplement or as a conventional food with added ingredients. Those two guidelines will help the agency use adverse event reports in overseeing dietary supplement products, the GAO stated.

PITTSBURGH — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic treatment for bronchospasm made by Mylan, the drug maker said Monday.

Mylan announced the approval of levalbuterol inhalation solution in the 0.31 mg/3 mL, 0.63 mg/3 mL and 1.25 mg/3 mL strengths. The company has begun shipping the product.

The drug is a generic version of Sunovion's Xopenex inhalation solution, which is used to treat bronchospasm in patients ages 6 years and older with reversible obstructive airway disease.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — PharmaSmart International’s comprehensive blood pressure program has recently been validated in two new, independent scientific studies, the company announced today. The company also announced a partnership with Rx-30 Pharmacy System that offers an automated clinical integration of validated PharmaSmart biometrics within the patient record.

BEDMINSTER, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration will decide in late August whether to approve an experimental opioid painkiller made by QRxPharma, the drug maker said Thursday.

Australia-based QRxPharma is seeking approval for Moxduo (morphine and oxycodone), and the FDA plans to decide whether to approve the drug on Aug. 26.

NEW YORK — The director of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Generic Drugs is stepping down, according to published reports.

Pharmalot, a blog run by journalist Ed Silverman, reported that Greg Geba is leaving the office over differences resulting from a recent reorganization, effective Friday.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Actavis is challenging Novartis' patent on a patch used to treat Alzheimer's disease, Actavis said.

The generic drug maker said it had filed with the Food and Drug Administration an amendment to its regulatory application for rivastigmine transdermal system to include the 13.3 mg-per-24-hours dosage strength, a generic version of Novartis' Exelon. Novartis filed suit against Actavis on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware seeking to prevent commercialization of the generic version.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Last year the Food and Drug Administration warned parents against using the ingredient benzocaine in children to relieve oral pain. Children under the age of 2 years who are teething and given benzocaine should be under the supervision of a doctor, the agency warned.

While the Food and Drug Administration released draft guidance on regulations for biosimilars in February 2012, the final regulations have yet to appear. But already, everyone from analysts to trade groups to drug makers is preparing for a time when knock-off versions of biotech drugs will become available.

A new report sheds light on some of the opportunities and challenges that exist in follow-on biologics, arguing that their opportunity to generate value depends on factors like the speed of development, clarity of regulation, ease of access and the roles of all stakeholders.

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — Amneal Pharmaceuticals has started shipping a drug used to treat opioid dependence, the company said Tuesday.

The generic drug maker announced the shipment of buprenorphine hydrochloride and naloxone hydrochloride dihydrate sublingual tablets in the 2-mg/0.5-mg and 8-mg/2-mg strengths. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug in February.

The drug includes a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, a program required by the FDA to ensure that its benefits outweigh its risks.

NEW YORK — The stakes are high in a case involving generic drug maker Actavis and the Federal Trade Commission that will soon go before the Supreme Court, the head of a generic drug industry lobbying group said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.

The case, FTC v. Actavis, will go before the high court on March 25 and may decide the future of patent settlements between branded and generic drug companies. The Generic Pharmaceutical Association filed an amicus brief with the court last week defending the settlements as beneficial to consumers.

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration will inspect about 30 compounding pharmacies that it has deemed "high risk," according to published reports.

Businessweek reported that the FDA started visits to the pharmacies started last month and would continue for the next two months. So far, unsanitary conditions were found at pharmacies in Chicago, Florida, Arkansas and Mississippi.