Content about Specialty Pharmacy

PHOENIX — Ernst & Young has named Avella Specialty Pharmacy founder and CEO John Musil as a finalist for a regional award.

Avella said Musil had been shortlisted for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award in the Mountain Desert region, which includes Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Avella is headquartered in Phoenix.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson expects to file for Food and Drug Administration approval of more than 10 new drugs over the next four years, the drug maker said Thursday.

J&J's Janssen Pharmaceutical Cos. highlighted its more than 11 new product launches since 2009 and said it hoped to file with the FDA for more than two-dozen "significant" extensions to its branded drug lines by 2017.

DUBLIN — Irish drug maker Elan Corp. is paying about $380 million to buy one drug maker and a large stake in another, the company said.

Elan announced plans to buy Vienna-based AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals for about $340 million, a company that specializes in drugs for rare conditions in a variety of areas, including cancer, neurology and metabolic disorders. Elan also paid an initial $40 million to buy a 48% stake in Newbridge Pharmaceuticals, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Elan will have the option to buy the rest of the company for $244 million by 2015.

TAMPA, Fla. — The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy has appointed the leader of a cancer-focused specialty pharmacy to its board of directors.

The NASP announced Monday the appointment of Onco360 CEO Burt Zweigenhaft. Onco360 does business as OncoMed, The Oncology Pharmacy, and Zweigenhaft has served as CEO since 2007. The organization said that he had helped Onco360 grow from being a single pharmacy serving oncologists in the New York area to one of the fastest-growing pharmacies of its kind in the country.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Hospira has reappointed its chief scientific officer after he briefly left the country earlier this year, the generic drug maker said.

Sumant Ramachandra has been reappointed to the position, effective Friday, and will be in charge of the company's research and development, regulatory and medical affairs.

TAMPA, Fla. — The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy has launched an online resource with clinical and business-related content in more than 20 therapeutic categories, the group said Thursday.

The Specialty Pharmacy Education Center provides 30 hours worth of content for members of the organization, including preparation for the group's Certified Specialty Pharmacist program.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug for a type of lung cancer.

Roche subsidiary Genentech and the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Astellas Pharma announced the approval of Tarceva (erlotinib) for advanced non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have mutations that activate the epidermal growth factor receptor. The FDA also approved a test to detect the mutation.

The drug was already approved for advanced NSCLC that did not exhibit the mutation.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — A new treatment for late-stage prostate cancer has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA announced Wednesday the approval of Bayer's Xofigo (radian Ra 223 dichloride) for men with symptomatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer that has spread to the bones but not other organs, also known as metastasis. The drug is designed for men whose cancer has spread after receiving medical or surgical therapy to lower testosterone.

NORTH WALES, Pa. — Teva Health Systems has launched a generic injectable drug for small-cell lung cancer, the company said Tuesday.

Teva, a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals, itself a subsidiary of Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, announced the launch of topotecan injection in the 1 mg-per-1 mL strength, in 4 mL, single-dose vials.

The drug is a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's Hycamtin.

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.

TAMPA, Fla. — The Specialty Pharmacy Certification Board has appointed Terri Smith Moore as the education director, the group said Friday.

Moore is the senior manager for product development at healthcare accreditation organization URAC, where she manages the group's accreditation programs and revisions and maintenance of related accreditation documentation.

WASHINGTON — The Drug Enforcement Administration collected more than 371 tons of unused medications last month as part of its sixth annual drug take-back program, the agency said.