Specialty Pharmacy

DALLAS — The global market for biosimilars is expected to be worth nearly $2 billion before the end of the decade, according to a new study.

MarketsandMarkets, a Dallas-based research company, looked at the global market for biosimilars - knock-off versions of biotech drugs - including monoclonal antibodies, erythropoietins, recombinant proteins and peptides, forecasting $1.954 billion in market value by 2018.

NEW YORK — A bill that would implement federal tracking and tracing of drugs and strengthen federal regulations on pharmacy compounding has passed in the Senate and will go to President Barack Obama for his signature.

LONDON — The Food and Drug Administration has given orphan drug designation to an experimental treatment for a rare form of epilepsy.

GW Pharmaceuticals said Friday that the FDA had granted the designation to Epidiolex for Dravet syndrome, a severe, drug-resistant form of epilepsy that begins in infancy. The drug is an oral liquid of a highly purified extract of cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive molecule derived from the cannabis plant.

WASHINGTON — A Food and Drug Administration expert panel has voted to recommend approval for a drug to treat a circadian rhythm disorder that affects most people with total blindness.

NEW YORK — The value of drugs approved in the United States this year could reach almost $19 billion in sales five years after their launch, exceeding the value of drugs approved in 2012, according to a new report.

NEW YORK — New cardiovascular health guidelines released this week could dampen the potential popularity of an up-and-coming class of cholesterol drugs, according to published reports.

FLINT, Mich. — Diplomat has joined the limited distribution network for a rare form of blood cancer drug marketed by Johnson & Johnson and Pharmacyclics.

The specialty pharmacy said Thursday that J&J subsidiary Janssen Biotech and Pharmacyclics had added it to the limited distribution network for Imbruvica (ibrutinib), which the Food and Drug Administration approved this week for mantle cell lymphoma.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Antiretroviral drugs have allowed people with HIV to live normal life spans, but because of this, they also are susceptible to many new health complications, according to care guidelines released Thursday by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.