Content about New Drug Application

HAWTHORNE, N.Y. — Taro Pharmaceutical Industries reported last week that it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its new drug application Topicort (desoximetasone) topical spray, 0.25%.

Topicort topical spray, 0.25% is a corticosteroid indicated for the treatment of plaque psoriasis in patients 18 years of age or older.

According to Taro, the corticosteroid spray market is approximately $100 million in annual sales in the United States.

It's been long accepted that politics makes strange bedfellows. That's certainly the case with the reauthorization in 2012 of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act.

Leaders in both the branded and generic drug industries praised the reauthorization last June of PDUFA, the 20-year-old system by which research-based pharmaceutical companies help fund the government's expensive review and testing process for new drug applications.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. — Astellas Pharma US announced the Food and Drug Administration's review of their new drug application for tacrolimus extended-release capsules, a once-daily formulation of the calcineurin-inhibitor immunosuppressant tacrolimus, for the prophylaxis of organ rejection in adult kidney transplant recipients and adult male liver transplant recipients.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — The Food and Drug Administration has accepted a regulatory approval application for a drug for hot flashes from Depomed, the drug maker said.

Depomed submitted its application to the FDA for Serada (gabapentin), an extended-release drug for hot flashes in menopausal women.

ALLEGAN, Mich. — Perrigo has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its abbreviated new drug application to market over-the-counter omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate capsules in the 20-mg/1,100-mg strength, the store-brand equivalent to Merck's Zegerid OTC.

Zegerid OTC (omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate capsules 20 mg/1,100 mg), a proton-pump inhibitor indicated to relieve frequent heartburn, had sales of approximately $42 million through food, drug and mass merchandisers for the lastest 12 months.

RARITAN, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review to a supplemental new drug application for a drug developed by Janssen Research and Development.

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has accepted a new drug application for a low-dose, once-weekly contraceptive patch from Agile Therapeutics, the drug maker said.

RARITAN, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has issued a complete response letter regarding a supplemental new drug application for a medication developed by Janssen Research and Development.

BOSTON — Merck on Wednesday released new data from two pivotal Phase III efficacy trials for suvorexant, the investigational medicine Merck is developing for the treatment of insomnia.

Merck expects to file a new drug application to the Food and Drug Administration in 2012. If approved, suvorexant would be the first medicine approved in a new class of medicines, called orexin receptor antagonists, for use in patients with difficulty falling or staying asleep. Merck anticipates that suvorexant will be evaluated by the Controlled Substance Staff of the FDA.

NEW YORK — An experimental drug made by Pfizer for a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease got a favorable vote from a Food and Drug Administration expert panel.

The FDA's Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee voted 13-4 that the drug tafamidis meglumine would provide certain clinical benefits to patients with transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy, or TTR-FAP, a hereditary disease that affects about 8,000 people worldwide. The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of FDA advisory committees, but usually does.

ATLANTA — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic drug for epilepsy made by Acella Pharmaceuticals, the company said Wednesday.

Acella announced the approval of gabapentin oral solution in the 250-mg-per-5-mL strength. The drug is a generic version of Parke Davis' Neurontin.

LIVINGSTON, N.J. and PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Columbia Labs has transferred a new drug application for a topical drug designed to prevent premature birth in pregnant women to Watson Pharmaceuticals.

Columbia Labs said Watson now has full rights and regulatory responsibility for all activities and sponsor obligations relating to the application for progesterone vaginal gel 8%. Late last month, the drug received a thumbs-down from an FDA panel that declined to recommend approval for it.

The FDA is expected to take action on the NDA by Feb. 26.