Has the explosion in generic utilization curbed pioneer-drug research and development? That's one concern floated by some pharmaceutical industry watchers, who claim that the stunning market share gains made by generic drug makers could reduce incentives for branded drug companies to spend to develop new molecular entities, conduct lengthy clinical trials, gain FDA approval and bring those new drugs to market.

Kroger announced Thursday it will acquire the outstanding shares of Axium Pharmacy Holdings, a leading specialty pharmacy, and merge the two companies. By now, it should be clear that specialty is becoming an increasingly important part of the retail pharmacy mix, having grown more than sixfold in revenues between 2000 and 2011, with everyone from Rite Aid to Costco to Hy-Vee biting off a piece for themselves.

As Specialty Pharmacy magazine reported in its fall 2012 issue, specialty drug development is starting to play a much bigger role in drug development overall than traditional pharmaceuticals. According to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, seven of the top 20 drug therapy classes will be in specialty by 2016, including cancer, autoimmune disorders and antivirals, and specialty and bioengineered drugs remain one of the few growth centers in the drug industry in 2012. And according to Express Scripts, the market for specialty and bioengineered drugs is expected to grow from 2011's 17.1% to 22% by 2014.

French drug maker Sanofi announced a deal with the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development Thursday to develop drugs for tuberculosis.

Novo Nordisk and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on Wednesday announced the creation of a joint research and development team to discover and develop novel immunotherapies to prevent, treat and help cure Type 1 diabetes.

A 30% rise in attendance at the Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit is nothing to brush off — it's as clear an indication as any that specialty pharmacy is growing and probably poised for more growth in the near future, thanks in particular to the aging population and consequential rise in the number of people living with difficult-to-treat medical conditions.

For all the fears about the patent cliff, at least one disease state seems to be on the up-and-up in terms of new drug development and new products.

The increase in the number of people with rheumatoid arthritis, and the challenges posed to drug makers by generics, is encouraging the development of new drugs for the disease, according to a new report by Frost & Sullivan.

Drug maker UCB and Harvard University have entered a research alliance that is designed to advance ongoing Harvard research projects along the drug development pathway.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals filed suit against Eli Lilly in federal court Monday concerning an agreement between the latter and German drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim to develop drugs for diabetes.

In a deal that will bolster its drug development capabilities, Biogen Idec has acquired a subsidiary of Swiss-based Neurimmune Holding AG.

Pfizer is pulling out of a development deal for a potential brain cancer drug, saying...