Author: PharmaTimes

Schering-Plough is making “good progress” in complying with the US Food and Drug Administration’s consent decree, chief executive, Fred Hassan, told investors at a Morgan Stanley conference yesterday.

A potential link between the use of two schizophrenia treatments – namely Novartis’ Clozaril (clozapine) and Zyprexa (olanzapine) from Eli Lilly – and an increased risk of developing diabetes has resurfaced in a study published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry (2005;62:19-28).

Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim were celebrating this morning after winning European clearance for Cymbalta (duloxetine) for the treatment of major depressive episodes.

Teva has won its first approval for Azilect (rasagiline) in Israel both as initial monotherapy in patients with early Parkinson’s disease, and as an adjunct treatment in the moderate-to-advanced stage of the disease. The company is hoping to launch the drug in this market in March this year.

Andrx Corporation says that it will be selling its loss-making branded pharmaceuticals business as part of a bid to focus its efforts on development and distribution. The US company also said it would be terminating a supply and distribution agreement with Pfizer for a sustained-release version of its alpha-blocker, Cardura XL (doxazosin), after the product failed to win US Food and Drug Administration approval by the end of last year.