Content about Pharmaceutical industry

NEW YORK The Food and Drug Administration has approved a prefilled dual-chamber syringe made by Pfizer for treating hemophilia, Pfizer said.

The FDA approved the syringe for administering the drug Xyntha (antihemophilic factor [recombinant]) for hemophilia A. The drug is used to prevent and control bleeding episodes in patients.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT In these times of trillion-dollar spending bills and massive deficits, $16 billion may not seem like all that much. But it’s enough to throw another critical lifeline to states coping with the ever-rising costs of Medicaid health assistance to the poor and unemployed –– and to thousands of community pharmacies that have to provide prescription services to those millions of Americans.

WASHINGTON The companies working on more than half of the mental illness drugs under development are clustered in four U.S. states, according to research by the largest lobby for the drug industry.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America compiled a study showing that of the 313 drugs, 192 are under development by companies in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and California. The drugs are in clinical trials or under review by the Food and Drug Administration, PhRMA said.

CARY, N.C. Generic drug maker Cornerstone Therapeutics has filed for approval of a treatment for cold symptoms, Cornerstone said Thursday.

The drug maker announced the filing of an application with the Food and Drug Administration for CRTX-067 (chlorpheniramine polistirex and hydrocodone polistirex) oral suspension, a generic version of UCB’s Tussionex.

SILVER SPRING, Md. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first generic version of a Sanofi-Aventis injected drug used to treat deep vein thrombosis, the agency said Friday.

The FDA approved generic enoxaparin sodium, a version of Sanofi’s Lovenox, developed under a collaboration between Momenta Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz, the generics division of Swiss drug maker Novartis.