Author: PharmaTimes

Swiss biotechnology company, Serono, says it has started a two-year head-to-head clinical trial pitting its top-selling multiple sclerosis offering, Rebif (interferon beta-1a), against Teva’s rival product, Copaxone (glatiramer).

Bristol-Myers Squibb is in talks with several interested parties over the possible $1 billion dollar sale of its Excedrin line of painkillers and certain other over-the-counter products, according to the New York Times.

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.