Content about Pfizer

NEW YORK — A generic version of the world’s top-selling cholesterol treatment is expected to hit the market this year, but the branded version’s manufacturer is trying to put the brakes on the launch, according to media reports.

Gurgaon, India-based Ranbaxy Labs plans to launch its version of Pfizer’s cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) in the United States in November and will receive six months’ market exclusivity in which to compete directly against Pfizer’s version, under the terms of the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984.

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.

PRINCETON, N.J. — Sandoz has launched higher dosages of its authorized generic version of a hypertension drug, the generics division of Swiss drug maker Novartis said Monday.

Sandoz announced the launch of amlodipine besylate and benazepril in the 5-mg/40-mg and 10-mg/40-mg strengths. The company already marketed the drug in the 2.5-mg/10-mg, 5-mg/10-mg, 5-mg/20-mg and 10-mg/20-mg strengths.

The drug is an authorized generic of Lotrel, marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. An authorized generic is a branded drug marketed under its generic name at a reduced price.

WASHINGTON — The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America has added four new members to its board.

Joining PhRMA are Ian Read, Pfizer's president and CEO; Jerzy Gruhn, Novo Nordisk president; Mark Iwicki, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals president and COO; and Staffan Schuberg, Lundbeck president.

NEW YORK — A subsidiary of Pfizer has extended the expiration date of its tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of King Pharmaceuticals.

Parker Tennessee's tender offer now is scheduled to expire Jan. 21, as certain conditions to the tender offer wouldn't have been satisfied by the previously scheduled expiration date — which was Dec. 17 — including the expiration or earlier termination of any waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

MADISON, N.J. — Pfizer Consumer Healthcare on Tuesday launched a new consumer promotion campaign featuring television actress Angie Harmon in support of its Children’s Advil brand.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association recently named GlaxoSmithKline veteran Janet Carter-Smith chair of the CHPA Retailer Liaison Steering Committee, effective Jan. 1.

Carter-Smith will be the third chair of this committee, succeeding David Howenstine, VP customer and industry development at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, whose term ends at the end of the year.

MADISON, N.J. — On the same day that the Institute of Medicine increased the daily recommended intake of vitamin D to maintain bone health, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Tuesday announced the launch of Caltrate Soft Chews, which incorporate the higher daily recommended vitamin D goals.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday reported that Vigor-25, a product inappropriately marketed as a natural dietary supplement to enhance male sexual performance, should not be purchased or used because it contains sildenafil, the active ingredient in the prescription drug Viagra.

MADISON, N.J. Pfizer Consumer Healthcare on Tuesday announced it will be supporting its Advil Congestion Relief launch with a text-driven sweepstakes across five metropolitan areas, including Atlanta; Grapevine, Texas; Jersey City, N.J.; Orland Park, Ill.; and Pleasanton, Calif. As many as 100 sweepstake winners will be awarded the services of a personal shopper for use on Black Friday, providing “literal congestion relief” on one of the most congested holiday shopping days.

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J. — Drug Store News at Il Giardino Ristorante. Next time you’re there, try the veal—tell them Frank Maione sent you. To see more photos from the event, log on to DrugStoreNews.com  . —On Nov. 5, industry vet Frank Maione closed the book on 34 years of building the business for the likes of Warner Lambert, Pfizer and most recently Johnson & Johnson.

MADISON, N.J. Newly published findings indicated that infants fed a lower-protein infant formula developed by Pfizer Nutrition gained weight at a similar rate to those who were breast-fed, according to a study published online Wednesday in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.