FDA Pipeline Preview, March 2012 (ViroPharma, Novartis, Amgen, Del Mar Pharmaceuticals, CSL Behring, Genentech, Salix, Gilead, Pfizer, Repligen)

Spero Therapeutics was seeking approval for tebipenem HBr oral tablets for treatment of adult patients with complicated urinary tract infection. The FDA has requested an additional clinical trial.

Approved in March, Tlando is an oral testosterone that doesn’t require dose titration.

Livmarli is the first drug approved for Alagille syndrome.

The COX-2 inhibitor Anjeso, a faster-acting injectable formulation of meloxicam, reduces opioid use after surgery.

It may come as a surprise that each year Americans catch approximately 1 billion colds, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 20% get the flu. This cold and flu season, 7 in 10 patients will reach for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to treat their coughs, stuffy noses, and sniffles. It’s an important time of the year to remind patients to double check their medicine labels so they don’t double up on medicines containing acetaminophen.

The driving force behind consumer cost-sharing provisions for specialty medications is the acquisition cost and not clinical value. This appears to be true for almost all public and private health plans, says a new report from researchers at the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID Center) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC).