Specialty Pharmacy

NEW YORK — A former Albertsons executive has been named the newest VP pharmacy at ECRM.

Italo Pennella, a licensed pharmacist, will utilize his insight on the pharmaceutical supply chain as ECRM's newest executive. At Albertsons, Pennella's career spanned more than 10 years, which included oversight of all brand manufacturer relationships. Prior to joining ECRM, Pennella most recently served as associated director of trade for Otsuka and Schering-Plough/Organon.

PITTSBURGH — A Mylan subsidiary has inked a nonexclusive license agreement with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals to manufacture, market and distribute a generic version of an HIV treatment.

Pending the regulatory approval of TMC278 (rilpivirine hydrochloride), Matrix Labs will have the right to manufacture once-daily 25-mg TMC278 as a single-agent medicine and a fixed-dose combination product, Mylan said. Matrix also will be able to market the drug in sub-Saharan Africa, certain developing countries and India.

LONDON — The Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a regulatory approval application from British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline concerning a cancer drug, GSK said Wednesday.

GSK said the FDA issued a complete response letter for its application seeking approval for Avodart (dutasteride) to reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men at increased risk of developing the disease. The drug already is approved to treat enlarged prostate.

JERUSALEM — Generic drug makers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and APP Pharmaceuticals have launched their version of a chemotherapy drug, the two companies said Wednesday.

Teva and APP launched gemcitabine hydrochloride injfection in 200-mg and 1-g single-dose vials. The drug is a version of Eli Lilly’s Gemzar, which had sales of about $785 million in the United States in 2010, according to IMS Health. The drug is used to treat cancers of the lungs, pancreas, breasts and ovaries.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — An investigational schizophrenia drug appears effective in reducing agitation in patients with the disease, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Alexza Pharmaceuticals announced results of a phase-3 trial of the inhaled drug AZ-004 (loxapine), which showed statistically significant improvement in symptoms of agitation in patients compared with the placebo.

NEW YORK — A nonprofit clinic that caters to New York’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities and people living with HIV and AIDS has opened a new pharmacy.

ATLANTA — British drug maker ProStrakan Group will partner with two U.S. companies to administer its risk evaluation and mitigation strategy for a cancer pain drug.

ProStrakan said it would use RelayHealth Pharmacy Solutions’ and McKesson Specialty Care Solutions’ services to administer the REMS for Abstral (fentanyl citrate), a drug that patients can place under the tongue to treat breakthrough pain associated with cancer when they already have received and become tolerant of opioid painkillers.

NEW YORK — Drug maker Genentech is hoping to keep a breast cancer treatment on the market as the Food and Drug Administration considers whether to revoke its approval for the disease, according to published reports.

The San Francisco Business Times reported Tuesday that Genentech, part of Swiss drug maker Roche, is appealing the FDA’s plan to revoke approval for the drug Avastin (bevacizumab) as a first-line treatment for advanced HER2-negative breast cancer in combination with paclitaxel chemotherapy.