Content about the Wall Street Journal

NEW YORK — The YMCA is sponsoring a diabetes-control program that some say could slow the disease's spread, according to published reports.

NEW YORK — Johnson & Johnson is shopping its women's health unit, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal, which suggested that the business no longer coincided with J&J's "growth priorities." 

The brands managed by the unit include intimacy health KY and women's personal care brands, o.b. tampons and Stayfree and Carefree pads. 

CHICAGO — Bausch & Lomb is actively exploring a sale that could command upward of $10 billion, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday. 

According to the report, Bausch & Lomb has been entertaining informal inquiries since the announcement that the company may soon issue an initial public offering. If no buyer materializes, the eye care company still plans to pursue an IPO, the report noted.

NEW YORK — The PBM division of CVS Caremark is hoping to get patients to use lower-cost drugs for certain conditions by removing higher-cost drugs from its formulary, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that CVS Caremark would stop covering 17 drugs starting on Jan. 1, 2013, after removing 30 this year. The drugs include Abbott's Androgel (testosterone gel) for low testosterone, and Pfizer's drug Detrol LA (tolterodine tartrate) for overactive bladder.

PHILADELPHIA — The men’s grooming market is poised for further growth as more than 9-out-of-10 men are using some sort of grooming product today, according to a recent report by the NPD Group. Looking to further tap into the growing segment, Macy’s in downtown Philadelphia has opened a “men’s grooming zone” on its beauty selling floor.

NEW YORK — Though they've been on the market for less than a month, the generic and authorized generic versions of Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor have captured more than one-tenth of prescriptions, according to published reports.

Citing an analysis of data from IMS Health by J.P. Morgan, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ranbaxy's generic atorvastatin calcium tablets and Watson Pharmaceuticals' authorized generic have claimed about 14.6% of prescription volume since their launch on Nov. 30.

WASHINGTON — The generic drug lobby is stepping up its efforts to persuade the congressional super committee to avoid adopting rules that would ban some patent settlements between branded and generic drug makers.

NEW YORK — A wave of patent expirations over the next several years will open up a broad swath of drugs to generic competition, and India's Lupin Pharmaceuticals is looking to benefit, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Mumbai-based company planned to launch 25 to 30 new generic drugs each year over the next couple of years.

NEW YORK — The penny-pinching consumers of the recession have become penny-clamping consumers, and dollar stores are starting to feel the effects, according to published reports.

NEW YORK — More retailers are using such social media venues as Facebook as an entry point into their e-commerce sites, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited JCPenney and GNC as examples.

Facebook, the report said, creates a new shopping dynamic, enabling consumers to “share” what they’ve bought with friends in real time.

For now, the revenue stream is a trickle, WSJ reported. But expectations are that this potentially could provide a strong flow of revenue in the near future.

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration is working on creating new and simplified drug information sheets for consumers to replace the multipage and sometimes labyrinthine packets supplied with drugs at retail pharmacies, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the agency was testing the information sheets while the U.S. Pharmacopeia Convention was developing a new standard for drug labels.