Content about Regulatory and Washington

NEW YORK — Florida's state legislature approved a bill last week that will allow pharmacists to substitute biosimilars for brand name biotech drugs.

The bill, which was approved last Tuesday and is scheduled to take effect on July 1, institutes requirements for pharmacists to substitute biosimilars when they are determined to be biosimilar to and interchangeable with the brand name product, while also requiring the state board of pharmacy to maintain a current list of interchangeable products.

NEW YORK — Retail pharmacies, drug makers and law enforcement have a variety of methods used to fight organized crime, and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has drawn up a list of best practices that pharmacies can use to keep stores, drugs, staff and customers safe.

ATLANTA — Only 1-in-5 U.S. adults are meeting both the aerobic and muscle strengthening components of the federal government's physical activity recommendations, according to an article published Thursday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WASHINGTON — The retail industry added nearly 30,000 jobs last month amid a general uptick in hiring that brought unemployment down to 7.5%, according to the Department of Labor.

The department's monthly jobs report showed the economy added 165,000 jobs, including 29,000 in the retail industry, which accounts for the largest number of private sector jobs. In addition, the March jobs report, which initially showed that the economy added only 88,000 jobs, was revised upward to 138,000, while the February report was revised upward to 332,000.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced that it has approved an amended application submitted by Teva Women’s Health to market Plan B One-Step (active ingredient levonorgestrel) for use without a prescription by women 15 years and older. The approval will move Plan B from behind the pharmacy counter into the family planning set of the pharmacy. 

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for a genetic disorder that affects about 500 people in the United States and 3,000 worldwide, the agency said Tuesday.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Genentech for a rare form of arthritis in children, the company said Tuesday.

Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss drug maker Roche, announced the approval of Actemra (tocilizumab) for polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children ages 2 years and older, either alone or combined with the generic drug methotrexate.

WASHINGTON — Consumer Reports recently corrected a story to run in its May issue, titled “Vitamin D: How 32 supplements really measure up," that erroneously identified nine vitamin D/calcium supplement products that the publication claimed exceeded the California Proposition 65 Lead Limit for Reproductive Risk.

NEW YORK — Electronic health platform Fitango is creating a three-part action plan to support childhood immunizations, the company said Monday.

Fitango announced the release of its new series of Preventative Actionplans, broken up according to age, respectively titled "Tracking Your Child's Vaccinations (0 - 2)," "Tracking Your Child's Vaccinations (4 - 6)" and "Tracking Your Child's Vaccinations (7 - 18)."

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Generic drug maker Actavis is settling a patent-infringement suit with Purdue Pharma concerning the opioid painkiller OxyContin, Actavis said Friday, saying it expected to make more than $100 million in the deal between 2014 and 2015.

WASHINGTON — More than 200 drugs for blood cancers are under development, according to a new report by a drug industry trade group.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said 241 medicines were in clinical development or under review by the Food and Drug Administration, including 98 for lymphoma, 97 for leukemia, 52 for multiple myeloma and 24 for malignancies of the bone marrow, blood and lymph nodes.

PARSAPPANY, N.J. — Actavis can launch a generic version of an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug made by Shire next year under an agreement between the two companies announced Thursday.