Xenon Pharmaceuticals is licensing an experimental pain drug to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a deal worth up to $376 million, the companies said.

The Supreme Court will review settlements between branded and generic drug companies that critics say delay patients' access to cheaper drug treatments, according to published reports.

Astellas Pharma US has announced the Food and Drug Administration's approval to review the new drug application for tacrolimus extended-release capsules.

Just how much of an impact the loss of patent protection can have on a blockbuster drug became clear earlier this year.


Patent settlements between generic and branded drug companies seem like one of the most controversial and long-standing issues in the pharmaceutical world, with strong opinions on both sides.


In 2011 and 2012, the steady surge of blockbuster pharmaceuticals falling off the patent cliff became a stampede. An astonishing number of big-selling drugs that had established and sustained branded drug makers’ profits for years fell victim to the expiration of their patent lives and market exclusivity, roiling the pharmaceutical marketplace and redefining the pricing model for many of the most widely prescribed classes of medicines.


Generic Pharmaceutical Association president and CEO Ralph Neas called it “the most important pharmaceutical legislation since the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act.” John Castellani, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the law served “the best interests of America’s patients.”


Ranbaxy Labs has recalled more than three dozen lots of its generic version of a cholesterol-lowering statin drug due to the possible presence of foreign particles, the company said.

When it comes to medication nonadherence, the most oftcited statistic illustrating its effect on the healthcare system is the New England Healthcare Institute's estimate that it costs the healthcare system $290 billion per year. But a new report shows how much drug makers lose as well.

In the classic Arabian Nights tale “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp,” the sorcerer who sold Aladdin the lamp containing the genie attempts to get it back by walking through the town where Aladdin and his wife live disguised as a merchant, trading “new lamps 
for old.” 


Perhaps the iconic scene at the end of Ridley Scott’s 1991 movie “Thelma & Louise” — with Gina Davis’ and Susan Sarandon’s characters hurdling into the Grand Canyon in a green convertible — is a good metaphor for what’s happening in the generic drug industry these days.