Generics

A December 9 hearing of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging had senators looking closely at several possible solutions to the recent, massive price spikes for particular generic drugs, including having FDA speed approval for competitors for products with no competition.

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) recently reintroduced legislation that would make it illegal for brand-name drug manufacturers to pay-off other drug manufacturers to keep generic versions of brand-name drugs off the market.

That’s the allegation made in a potential class action lawsuit that claims CVS deliberately overcharged some customers for generic drugs by submitting claims to their insurance companies at inflated prices.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals has completed its acquisition of Actavis’ Australian-based generic pharmaceuticals business. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Four generic manufacturers (Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Hetero Labs, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Torrent Pharmaceuticals) received the go-ahead April 28 to market their generic versions for Abilify for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its lists of approved biosimilar licensed products, called the “Purple Book”. The invaluable site includes the date a biological product was licensed under the PHS Act and whether FDA evaluated the biological product for reference product exclusivity.

Inadequate reimbursement rates are threatening patient access to generic drugs and to community pharmacies, according to a recent survey by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).

Sam’s Club is offering greater discounts and some free generic medications with an expanded prescription program for its Plus and Business Plus members.

Should generic drug makers be required to update their drug labels about safety concerns before FDA reviews the change? Should this be done even if the information differs from the brand name drug labels temporarily?

As healthcare facilities across the nation deal with shortages of certain drugs, including generics, pharmacists and pharmacy managers are tasked with the daily monitoring of drug supplies and increased communications with other healthcare professionals such as nurses and physicians.

FDA recently raised concerns that two generic versions of Concerta (methylphenidate hydrochloride extended-release tablets; Janssen Pharmaceuticals) may not be therapeutically equivalent to the brand-name drug.

A Senate panel is scheduled to hold a hearing on November 20, 2014, to investigate why the prices of some generic drugs are skyrocketing.

Camber Pharmaceuticals strives to be the most reliable and cost effective generic pharmaceutical supplier across a broad range of therapeutic classes.

A survey of new Rx, new generic, and new OTC products

A survey of new Rx and generic products