HEALTH

IRVINE, Calif. – Links Medical Products Animal Health Group on Thursday announced the introduction of their new Pet Gluco blood-glucose monitoring system for dogs and cats.

BAGSVÆRD, Denmark — A Food and Drug Administration panel has voted to support two experimental insulin treatments made by Novo Nordisk, the Danish drug maker said Thursday.

Novo Nordisk said the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee had voted 8-to-4 in favor of approval for insulin degludec and a combination treatment containing insulin degludec and insulin aspart.

PHILADELPHIA &,dash; GlaxoSmithKline on Friday donated $250,000 to the American National Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Sandy. The company also is contributing $80,000 through the British Red Cross for relief efforts in the wider Caribbean region — specifically Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic — where Sandy initially made landfall.

PALATINE, Ill. — Acura Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday shared with analysts details on its launch strategy of Nexafed, a pseudoephedrine formulated such that it inhibits the diversion to methamphetamnine. 

PHILADELPHIA – Recent research from the Rothman Institute at Jefferson has shown aspirin to be just as effective in preventing clots — specifically pulmonary emboli, life-threatening blood clots that can develop in the arteries of the lungs following joint replacement surgery — Thomas Jefferson University announced Wednesday. 

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — MinuteClinic is offering free diabetes screenings during November to mark Diabetes Month.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — GlaxoSmithKline on Thursday announced the five recipients of its annual GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards. In total, the North Carolina and Philadelphia-area healthcare nonprofit organizations will receive $200,000 in grant funding ($40,000 each) for providing access to healthcare for the underserved in their communities.

ALLEGAN. Mich. — Business for OTC store brands is expected to boom in the coming year, Perrigo chairman and CEO Joseph Papa told analysts discussing the private-label manufacturer's first-quarter results during a conference call Wednesday, even as the growth rate across the entire OTC category slows. "What we are seeing though, is the continued acceleration of store brand as being the reason why we're seeing the growth in our OTC category. For us to have a 9.4% growth in our OTC category, we think is a strong indication," Papa said.