Content about Pharmacology

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation into law Monday that will allow patients using prescription eye drops to get early refills in order to prevent interruptions in therapy.

EAST HANOVER, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a biotech drug made by Novartis for treating a form of arthritis that affects children, the Swiss drug maker said Friday.

The Specialty Pharmacy Certification Board will begin certifying specialty pharmacists who pass a comprehensive exam in October. The exam is designed to cover the entire specialty pharmacy process, including intake, clinical management, fulfillment and outcomes. 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Declining use overall of healthcare services drove down spending on medicines in the United States by 3.5% per capita last year, according to a new study.

The November 2011 expiration of Pfizer's patent on the cholesterol drug Lipitor and Ranbaxy Labs' release of the generic version received significant play in the media, particularly due to the theretofore status of Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) as the drug with the highest sales in the country, $7.7 billion in the United States, according to healthcare analytics firm IMS Health.

WASHINGTON — One of the difficulties that federal regulators ran into during the nationwide scandal surrounding the New England Compounding Center — the Massachusetts-based pharmacy blamed for a nationwide fungal meningitis epidemic that has sickened hundreds and killed dozens — was the issue of when such pharmacies cross the line from compounding to manufacturing.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — Drug maker Merck is seeking regulatory approval for an experimental tablet placed under the tongue that could be used to treat ragweed allergies.

Merck said the Food and Drug Administration accepted a regulatory application for its ragweed pollen sublingual allergy immunotherapy tablet. Ragweed, also known as Ambrosia artemisiifolia, is a major cause of seasonal allergies in the United States. Merck also submitted an application for a similar drug, for Timothy grass pollen allergies, in March.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — A Walgreens survey released Tuesday found that 37% of Medicare Part D beneficiaries have daily concerns about their prescription drug costs, and 1-in-5 say they’ve had to make sacrifices, such as delaying filling a prescription or skipping doses, to help manage medication costs.

That's almost 11.7 million seniors. 

NEW YORK — Pfizer is attempting to stem the rise of counterfeit medicines by selling one of its most popular drugs — and one of the most popular targets for counterfeiters — online.

The drug maker announced that it had launched Viagra (sildenafil citrate) home delivery, a prescription-fulfillment website for the drug, which is powered by CVS/pharmacy and accessible through Viagra.com.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug made by Merck for treating high cholesterol, the drug maker said.

Merck announced the approval of Liptruzet (ezetimibe and atorvastatin). The drug combines two preexisting cholesterol drugs: ezetimibe, which Merck markets under the brand name Zetia, and atorvastatin, which Pfizer markets under the name Lipitor. Both drugs are available as generics, but because Liptruzet is a novel combination of them, it required FDA approval as a new drug.

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration may soon find itself in another Plan-B-generated quandary — the complications around granting a three-year marketing exclusivity for a medicine that is both prescription-only and over-the-counter, according to an FDA Law Blog posted Sunday by Hyman, Phelps & McNamara. 

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The five associations representing the dietary supplement industry on Monday requested that the Food and Drug Administration issue revised guidance on new dietary ingredient notifications, with a specific focus on the information to be included to identify the new dietary ingredient.