Chain Drug Review articles from April 2005

Chain Drug Review archives from April 2005

Obligation to patients comes first.(pharmacists can refuse to fill prescription)(Column)
April 18, 2005... What's going on here? A recent story in The Washington Post reported that "some pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills, saying that dispensing the medications violates...

CMS' rules give an edge to mail-order providers.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
April 18, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The latest clarification of the Medicare drug benefit rules gives mail-order pharmacies an advantage over retailers, according to John Coster, vice president for policy and programs at the National Association of Chain Drug...

How to prepare for the unexpected.(Planning for the Unplanned and Unprecedented: Switches, Withdrawals and Recalls--A Board's Eye View)
April 18, 2005... Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part series. NEW YORK -- Unplanned and unprecedented events--typified by the Vioxx withdrawal and move of pseudo-ephedrine-based products behind the counter--are increasingly challenging drug...

Walgreens, CVS select Medicare Rx partners.
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- With the federal Medicare prescription drug benefit set to go into effect in January, the pharmacy benefits management companies (PBMs) run by the industry's two largest drug chains have struck deals with insurers to provide...

Executives are realigned at Wal-Mart.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Ron Chomiuk and Art Alderson have taken on bigger roles within Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s pharmacy operations. The catalyst for the change is the transfer of Frank Segrave, who had been vice president of pharmacy, to the...

SDM puts shareholder rights plan in place.
April 18, 2005... TORONTO -- Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) announced late last month that it had adopted a stockholders rights plan designed to provide its board and shareholders adequate time to assess any takeover bid that may be made for the company. The retailer...

Kerr readies health care prototype.(Kerr Drug Stores Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kerr Drug continues to exemplify innovation in health care. This summer the retailer is expected to debut a 9,000-square-foot pharmacy designed to carry only health-related items. The unit, to be located in nearby Lenoir,...

Longs offers delivery in San Diego.(next-day prescription delivery service by Longs Drug Stores Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... SAN DIEGO -- Longs Drug Stores has begun offering next-day prescription delivery service at all of its stores in San Diego and surrounding areas. The venture--which extends to all of the retailer's 30 stores in San Diego County as well as...

Rite Aid adds an exclusive skin care line.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... CAMP HILL, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. is poised to launch Swisso Logical, an exclusive skin care line from Switzerland, in 800 of its drug stores. The prices of items in the upscale line will range from $7.99 for makeup remover to $24 for Hydro...

Coca-Cola restructures top executive team.(Supplier News)(Mary Minnick new incharge of marketing)
April 18, 2005... ATLANTA -- Coca-Cola Co. has revamped its senior management team, promoting its head of Asian operations, Mary Minnick, to a powerful new position in charge of marketing, innovation and long-term growth. Minnick's appointment and other...

NCA forms partnership with ECRM.(Supplier News)(National Confectioners Association and Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... VIENNA, Va. -- The National Confectioners Association (NCA) and Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) have created a partnership that will include the sharing of technologies, audiences and venues. The first joint venture between...

Conair acquires Scunci brand.(Supplier News)(Scunci International Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... STAMFORD, Conn. -- Conair Corp. has purchases the Scunci hair accessories business from Scunci International Inc. The Scunci trademark is utilized on millions of elastic and cloth ponytailers, combs, jab clips, barrettes, bows and hair...

New leaders set at PepsiCo's North American unit.(Supplier News)(Dawn Hudson and John Compton)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- PepsiCo Inc. has reorganized its top management ranks, naming two executives to succeed Gary Rodkin as chief executive officer of the company's North American business. The 52-year-old Rodkin, who has led the North American...

Onetime charges push Duane Reade into red for year.(Business)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Reflecting number of items related to its change in ownership, Dude Reade Inc. recorded a wider lot for the quarter ended December 25 and swung to red ink from profit in the full-year comparison. However, the drug chain posted an...

Kroger write-down leads to $128 million loss.(Business)
April 18, 2005... CINCINNATI -- Slammed by a massive charge to write down the value of underperforming stores, Kroger Co. booked a larger-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter and swung from black to red ink for the fiscal year ended January 29. However,...

Community Rx should get tough on mail order.(mail order pharmacy can devastate chain drug retailers)
April 18, 2005... How serious is the threat to retail pharmacy represented by mail service? That's the question of the day for the chain drug industry. The answer, of course, is that it is serious indeed. A January article on the front page of The New York...

There's more to mail order than cost savings.(My Turn)
April 18, 2005... A new report from the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) should serve as a wake-up call for community pharmacy operators that aren't already alarmed about the threat of mail-order prescription programs. The efficiency and...

Why bother Rxmen with what robots can do?(TECHNOLOGY)(Prairie Stone Pharmacy uses robotics to prescribe drugs)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- In the seven years since the first pharmacy robot was introduced, the technology has become a crucial part of pharmacies across the country. Americans' growing reliance on prescription medications, the need to free pharmacist...

Central fill has another application.(TECHNOLOGY)(Rx.com for pharmacies which looks to fill prescriptions online)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... FORT WORTH -- While central fill may have never caught on to the degree that some predicted it would, Austin, Texas based PDX Inc. has developed novel method to make the concept a centerpiece of retail pharmacies' battle with mail order. ...

E-prescribing has not yet won full acceptance.(TECHNOLOGY)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Despite the federal government's calls for more physicians and health car professionals to do electronic prescribing, more than one-fifth of the states do not yet have laws that permit the practice. However, SureScripts, the...

Hospital study may offer warning for community pharmacy.(TECHNOLOGY)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... PHILADELPHIA -- The findings of a recent stud at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania could have implications for community pharmacy as the industry continues to move towards electronic prescribing. In a report published last...

RFID to raise bar for patient safety.(TECHNOLOGY)(radio frequency identification)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- No technological development will have greater effect on retail pharmacy in the next few years those working in the industry maintain, than radio frequency identification (RFID). "As we know the technology today, it will have a...

The absence of standards a big hurdle.(TECHNOLOGY)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Despite the immense promise that radio frequency identification (RFID) has to improve the prescription drug supply chain and weed out counterfeit medications, a great deal of work lies ahead before the technology becomes widespread...

The QS/1 division of J M Smith Corp. recently introduced WebRx.(TECH: Talk)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The QS/1 division of J M Smith Corp. recently introduced WebRx, a system that allows pharmacy customers to submit prescription refills online. Designed for a pharmacy network that already has a web site, WebRx can be inserted into that web...

Walgreen Co. and CVS Corp. have joined with the Florida Retail Federation to seek an exemption from a provision of the state's Prescription Drug Safety Act of 2003.(TECH: Talk)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Walgreen Co. and CVS Corp. have joined with the Florida Retail Federation to seek an exemption from a provision of the state's Prescription Drug Safety Act of 2003 that calls for maintaining a paper trail for prescription drugs as they proceed...

EPCglobal Inc.'s EPCglobal Canadian Conference 2005 in Toronto next month will focus on the impact radio frequency identification.(TECH: Talk)
April 18, 2005... EPCglobal Inc.'s EPCglobal Canadian Conference 2005 in Toronto next month will focus on the impact radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is having in that country. The April 6 and April 7 event will feature speakers from a...

Unisys Corp. and GenuOne Inc. have teamed up to provide track-and-trace solutions.(TECH: Talk)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Unisys Corp. and GenuOne Inc. have teamed up to provide track-and-trace solutions to help control counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Part of the agreement calls for Unisys to use GenuOne software in its services to help...

Formation Systems has launched Optiva 5, a software package to help manufacturers (including pharmaceutical makers) manage their entire product development process.(TECH: Talk)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Formation Systems has launched Optiva 5, a software package to help manufacturers (including pharmaceutical makers) manage their entire product development process. Executives say the software is the only product on the market that helps...

Parascript LLC is marketing SignatureOnline.(TECH: Talk)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Parascript LLC is marketing SignatureOnline, a software package that enables retailers to detect counterfeit signatures at the point of transaction. A spokeswoman says that by tracing the movement of a pen on a data-input device...

Checkpoint Systems Inc.(TECH: Talk)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Saleen Miyan has joined Checkpoint Systems Inc. in the newly created position of vice president and general manager of global RFID and emerging technologies. Based in London, Miyan will manage Checkpoint's global RFID efforts, overseeing...

Shifts in retailing prompt technology reassessment.(TECHNOLOGY)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Ongoing changes in chain drug retailing and community pharmacy are resulting in the industry facing a growing number of technological challenges, market researchers say. In a recent report from AMR Research, for instance, vice...

LobbyGuard Solutions LLC.(TECH: Talk)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... In the wake of a new law in Iowa requiring customers who purchase pseudo-ephedrine to sign a log sheet, LobbyGuard Solutions LLC has released a software package that it says makes the law and similar efforts that could follow in other states...

Emergis Inc. has agreed to pay $17.5 million (Canadian) for the Canadian claims-processing and pharmacy systems.(TECH: Talk)(NDCHealth Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Emergis Inc. has agreed to pay $17.5 million (Canadian) for the Canadian claims-processing and pharmacy systems business of NDCHealth Corp. NDCHealth's Canadian pharmacy systems business, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, provides...

The buzz in weight control is dietary supplements.(WEIGHT CONTROL)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Attention in the weight control category is focused squarely on dietary supplements. Strong sales of weight loss supplements helped overall diet candy/tablets sales edge up 1.2% in drug stores to $212 million in the year ended...

When retailers are partners, game plan works.(marketing weight loss supplements)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Chain drug retailers can do much to boost sales of energy and weight loss nutritional supplements, says Michael Kessler, president of Innovative Products Solutions Group LLC (IPSG), which markets Oxegen AKG and OxeSlim Diet. ...

Obesity has become the enemy of everyone.(WEIGHT CONTROL)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Obesity threatens to reduce the average American's life span by two to five years, reversing two centuries of longevity gains, according to a new study. Childhood and adolescent obesity in particular could do more to cut lives...

Rxmen as counselors can steer people toward smart planning.(pharmacists)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Pharmacists can play a crucial role in building sales of weight loss products, say retailers and suppliers. To that end, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy last year issued a statement with holistic recommendations for common health...

Suppliers play to the customer.(marketing weightloss supplements)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Major marketing efforts are spurring sales of weight loss supplements that are popular at chain drug stores. Zoller Laboratories' Zantrex-3--available at Walgreen Co., Rite Aid Corp. and CVS Corp. -is the title sponsor of a...

Chain tactics in marketing many, varied.(chain drug retailers)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Chain drug retailers are undertaking varied initiatives to propel sales in the weight loss category. Rite Aid Corp., for one, last month promoted Zoller Laboratories' Zantrex-3 dietary supplement at $29.99. And the chain's GNC...

Women making a difference at CVS.(CVS Corp.)
April 18, 2005... 'At CVS There Are No Limits on How Far Anyone Can Go' In an industry targeting female shoppers there is no better group to guide a company than a cadre of talented, experienced women. Such women are especially prominent at CVS Corp., among...

Select-A-Vision reading light.(Eye Care News)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Select-A-Vision is launching Night Light Readers, glasses cases with a complementary reading light built in to the end. "People often go into a restaurant or museum and find it too dark to read," notes Steve Liebers, president of...

New items from Bausch & Lomb.(Eye Care News)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Bausch & Lomb PreserVision eye vitamin and mineral supplement is now available in an easy-to-swallow, two-per-day soft gel format. In addition, PreserVision Soft Gel Lutein eye vitamins are now available on drug store shelves. The formula...

Tears Naturale gets new formula.(Eye Care News)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Alcon Inc.'s Tears Naturale Forte lubricant eyedrops with TriSorb triple demulcent technology are available in a new formula. The product contains three ingredients that work together to lock in the moisture that brings long-lasting relief...

Chains seize emerging opportunities.(EYE CARE)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Long considered a core category in drug stores, eye care now offers unprecedented possibilities for chain drug retailers as the nation grows older and more people suddenly find themselves in need of a variety of products that...

Consumer insights equal growth.
April 18, 2005... Eye care, generally perceived as a mature, slow-growth category, is in the midst of a reshaping that has caught many merchandisers unprepared. The future, to be driven by product innovation and new consumer insights, means growth and...

Supplements for eyes earn place in mix.(eyecare supplements on shelves of mass retailers)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Vitamins and other nutritional supplements are proving to be a significant factor in promoting ocular health, and a number of chain drug and other mass retailers are placing such products in the eye care section of their stores. ...

Reading glasses are in vogue.(EyeCare)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Those who need to move a document away from their face when they read or have trouble deciphering a menu in a romantic restaurant can take comfort in the fact that they are not alone. In fact, there are well over 100 million...

Implantable corrective lens gets FDA O.K.(EyeCare)(Verisyse lens)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first implantable corrective lens. The Verisyse lens was approved for adults with moderate to severe myopia. The device will allow them to shed their glasses without...

The spotlight is turned toward male consumers.(targeting ethnic males)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- While retailers and manufacturers have historically concentrated their efforts in ethnic beauty marketing on women, it is now men who are increasingly getting their attention. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are...

AHBAI makes retailer's job easier.(American Health and Beauty Aids Institute releases planogram)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... CHICAGO -- The American Health & Beauty Aids Institute (AHBAI) has released the first Ethnic Health & Beauty Care (HBC) industry planogram. "We are pleased to provide this valuable tool to retailers across the country," remarks AHBAI...

Ethnic customers are welcome shoppers.(chain drug retailers target ethnic minorities)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- The nation's leading drug chains all have a significant number of stores in urban neighborhoods, and effective merchandising of ethnic beauty products has become a focus of chain drug retailers in an effort to both stay in tune with...

Hispanics are many different people.(ETHNIC BEAUTY)(Markwins Beauty Products Inc. aims at ethnic minorities)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- With the latest U.S. Census Report reporting that Hispanics are the fastest*growing ethnic population in the nation, and that by the year 2050 Hispanics, African-Americans and Asians will together make up more than 50% of the United...

Use of HSAs expanding.(health savings accounts)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... More employers are adopting health savings accounts and similar consumer-directed programs to control costs, claims Watson Wyatt. The consulting firm, along with the National Business Group on Health, also notes that some employers are...

Complex programs.(pharmaceutical firms free medication programs are too complex)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Programs from pharmaceutical firms that offer free medications to the poor are too complex for many health care clinics that serve those low-income patients, according to the Public Health Institute. Its survey says clinic officials find...

Abbott moves to withdraw controversial ADHD drug.(Abbott Laboratories Inc. suspends sales of attention deficit/hyperactivity drug)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Abbott Laboratories is suspending sales of an attention-deficit/hyperactivity drug that a consumer group claimed caused at least 21 cases of liver failure, including some incidents resulting in the deaths of patients. But the pharmaceutical...

Drugs from Britain.(enhanced website www.MinnesotaRxConnect)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Minnesota is expanding its state-run web site that offers information on drugs from abroad to include drugs available from mail-order pharmacies in Britain. Minnesota was the first to sponsor a state-overseen site (www.MinnesotaRxConnect) to...

HHS goals.(News)(Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Medicaid and Medicare reforms, along with the creation of an electronic health records system, are among the major goals of newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. The former governor of Utah says he sympathizes with...

Online resource.(News)(Merck and Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Merck & Co. has launched a wireless format for MerckMedicus.com, its online medical resource for physicians and other health care professionals. The innovation allows doctors to use various wireless formats to remote-access health information...

New warehouse.(News)(D and K Healthcare Resources Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... D&K Healthcare Resources Inc. has opened a 180,000-square-foot distribution center near Birmingham, Ala. The modern, full-service complex will extend the wholesale drug distributor's operations in that state as well as in Georgia, Mississippi...

McKearn gets promoted to chief executive at Kalypsys.(Newsmakers)(John McKearn)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... John McKearn has been promoted to chief executive officer at Kalypsys. He had been president of the privately owned drug discovery and development company since August. McKearn joined the San Diego-based firm in 2003 as chief scientific...

Millennium choices.(Newsmakers)(Anna Protopapas promoted to senior vice president, David Schenkein to senior vice president )(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Anna Protopapas has been promoted to senior vice president of corporate development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. David Schenkein has been selected senior vice president of clinical research for the biopharmaceutical company.

Susan Arbuck.(Newsmakers)(appointment at Schering-Plough Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Susan Arbuck has been appointed vice president of global clinical development for the research institute of Schering-Plough Corp. She will focus on oncology products and will be based at the company's headquarters.

Stephen Shrewsbury.(Newsmakers)(appointmant at MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Stephen Shrewsbury has been chosen vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs at MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc. The California-based company concentrates on novel inhaled drug products.

Barry Polisky.(Newsmakers)(promoted)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Barry Polisky has been promoted to chief scientific officer and senior vice president of research at Sirna Therapeutics Inc. The clinical-stage biotechnology company focuses on therapies for diabetes, macular degeneration and other serious...

James Harmon.(Newsmakers)(appointed)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... James Harmon has been named vice president of managed markets for Organon Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. He has more than two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with an extensive background in managed care. Most recently Harmon was...

Duty versus conscience in Rx.(Focus)(pharmacists)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- Nearly every state has some form of policy that enables some health care professionals to refuse to provide contraceptive services on religious or moral grounds, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, an organization that...

Sales of generic versions of Accupril halted by court.(RETAIL PHARMACY)
April 18, 2005... NEW YORK -- A federal judge has blocked sales of generic forms of Pfizer Inc.'s Accupril, a ruling seen as a setback to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., both of which had been marketing the product under its...

FDA touts ways to improve drug safety.(RETAIL PHARMACY)(drug evaluation)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration has offered pharmaceutical firms suggestions on how they can improve safety evaluations of medicines during early stages of development as well as after those products have arrived on the market....

New management challenges for chain pharmacy executives.(RX/NEWS)
April 18, 2005... The operational, financial and strategic executives of the nation's chain drug stores may soon long for the good old days of seemingly unstoppable double-digit sales increases. In the recent past inventory arbitrage alone contributed...

Pharmacogenomic data guidelines are applauded.(RX/NEWS)
April 18, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration is winning praise for its recent release of guidance on pharmacogenomic data submissions. The Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) calls the regulatory document a step toward a new generation...

Crawford outlines plans for senate panel.(RX/NEWS)(Lester Crawford)
April 18, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Lester Crawford, President Bush's choice to become commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, promises a mixture of more of the same as well as the introduction of new ideas if he is confirmed for the post. Crawford,...

FDA takes measure of its efforts in '04.(RX/NEWS)(drug safety)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration last year introduced a number of initiatives to combat such critical health care threats as counterfeit drugs, medical errors and obesity. In addition, according to an FDA report issued last month,...

Fry's aims to assist uninsured.(RX/NEWS)(Fry's Food Stores Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... TOLLESON, Ariz. -- Fry's Food Stores of Arizona Inc. is reaching out to uninsured customers with the recent rollout of Rx Advantage, a program to provide prescriptions at significantly reduced prices to uninsured or otherwise cash-paying...

Pharmacists oppose drug imports.(RX/NEWS)(drug safety)
April 18, 2005... AUGUSTA, Maine -- Maine and Canadian pharmacists have joined hands to fight drug importation programs that they assert threaten the safety of patients in both countries. "The idea that our state legislature is considering allowing...

California program offers access to low-cost drugs.(RX/NEWS)(Rx Help for californians)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Millions of California residents now have access to free or deeply discounted prescription medications through Rx Help for Californians. The web site and toll-free hotline provides immediate access to hundreds of drug...

Compliance problems 'rampant'.(RX/NEWS)(prescription drug)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Prescription drug compliance poses a significant challenge for many patients, according to a new national survey. One in three adults who have been prescribed drugs to take regularly report that they are often or very often...

An incredibly career opportunity.(RX/NEWS)(demand for qualified pharmacists)
April 18, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A recently released report reveals that interest in pharmacy remains high, as enrollment in pharmacy schools continues to grow. The survey, according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), indicates that...

Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield's pharmacy program honored.(RX/NEWS)(Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... INDIANAPOLIS -- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has been honored by Harvard Medical School and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association for its innovative pharmacy program, which has been designed to improve access to affordable, quality health...

NDCHealth gives suppliers insights on Rx benefit designs' impact.(RX/NEWS)(NDC Dynamic Claims Lifecycle)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... ATLANTA -- NDCHealth Corp. has launched NDC Dynamic Claims Lifecycle, a service that is designed to provide pharmaceutical manufacturers with health plan-specific market data on each stage of the third-party claims process--from the initial...

Zofran gets O.K.(Branded Drugs)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The FDA has cleared Zofran for use in children as young as one month. Its manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, says Zofran is the first product to prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in infants.

Xopenex ready for market.(Branded Drugs)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The FDA has approved Sepracor Inc.'s Xopenex HFA, a metered-dose inhaler. The innovative product is for the treatment or prevention of bronchospasm in patients with reversible obstructive pulmonary disease.

Boniva is given FDA approval as treatment for osteoporosis.(RXs)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The Food and Drug Administration has approved Boniva as a treatment for osteoporosis. According to Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, comarketers of the product, Boniva is the first oral treatment administered as one tablet, once a...

Pain patch.(RXs)(DURECT Corp.'s agreement with ENDO Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing and commercializing Durect Corp.'s seven-day transdermal pain patch. The agreement is for the United States and Canada.

SICOR debut.(RXs)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... SICOR Pharmaceuticals Sales Inc. is introducing fluconazole injection for intravenous infusion in plastic containers. The specialty company is a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals USA.