Specialty Pharmacy

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. Data published in the latest issue of medical journal The Lancet showed that a recently approved drug reduced the risk of death in men with a certain form of prostate cancer by more than a quarter.

HORSHAM, Pa. The biotech division of Johnson & Johnson is hoping to expand the use of a treatment for autoimmune disorders.

Centocor Ortho Biotech said it had filed an application with the Food and Drug Administration to get approval for Simponi (golimumab) to stop the progression of structural damage, induce major clinical response, maintain reductions in signs and symptoms, and improve physical function in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

BURLINGTON, Mass. The drug market for Crohn's disease treatments will see moderate growth over the next decade, Decision Resources reported Wednesday.

The research firm projected that the market will increase a little more than 31%, from $3.2 billion in 2009 to $4.2 billion in 2019, in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan. Decision Resources said the the modest growth rate masks such market changes as new and emerging biologics, as well as generic competition.

NEW YORK Keryx has begun its phase-3 clinicial trial of a drug designed to treat elevated serum phosphorous levels in patients with end-stage renal disease on dialysis.

BURLINGTON, Mass. The market for hypertension drugs will drop by $3 billion by the end of the decade due to generic competition, according to a new report by healthcare market research firm Decision Resources.

The report, announced Tuesday, found that the market for drugs to treat high blood pressure would decline from 2009’s $26 billion to $23 billion by 2019 in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Japan.

NEW YORK Pfizer has halted a late-stage trial of a drug therapy in men with prostate cancer, the drug maker said.

Pfizer announced the discontinuation of “SUN 1120,” a phase-3 trial of Sutent (sunitinib malate) combined with the generic drug prednisone in men with advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer that had progressed despite chemotherapy. An analysis of data from the trial found that the men were not more likely to improve overall survival when taking the two drugs together than when they took prednisone alone.