Barr Laboratories Inc

Judge Orders Drug Recall at Barr Laboratories: Barr Laboratories Inc., a generic-drug manufacturer, must recall batches of seven medicines and stop distributing others until the company completes studies of its manufacturing process, a federal judge has ruled. But U.S. District Judge Alfred M. Wolin refused a request by federal pharmaceutical regulators to order a temporary shutdown of the drug company. Wolin said the company, which has plants in Northvale and Pomona, N.Y.

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed a modified request with U.S. regulators to sell its "morning-after" emergency contraceptive pill without a prescription. Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor Barr would say what changes the company made to its application for the pill, called Plan B. The FDA this month said it was prepared to quickly approve Plan B if Barr increased the age it proposed for over-the-counter sales from 16 to 18 and met other conditions.

Barr Laboratories Inc. received a subpoena from the Massachusetts attorney general, the latest in state and federal probes into whether drug makers helped doctors collect inflated payments from government insurance programs. Barr, a generic-drug maker, said it is cooperating with the request for documents related to pricing and Medicaid reimbursement and believes its practices were lawful. Earlier this week, Eli Lilly & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp.

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Warner Chilcott Corp. were accused Monday of blocking generic production of oral contraceptive Ovcon in a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission. According to the FTC complaint, Warner Chilcott entered into a $20-million agreement with Barr that prevented Barr's generic Ovcon from entering the U.S. market for five years. California joined 20 other states and the District of Columbia in supporting the FTC suit filed in the U.S.

A U.S. judge ruled that the 1997 agreement between Barr Laboratories Inc. and Bayer to end a patent suit over the anthrax treatment Cipro wasn't anti-competitive, according to Barr. U.S. District Judge David G. Trager in Brooklyn, N.Y., rejected arguments that the settlement violated antitrust laws. The ruling narrows the scope of some 38 antitrust lawsuits filed by consumers and wholesalers against Pomona, N.Y.-based Barr and Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer.

Barr Laboratories Inc. said it will acquire Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a stock swap valued at about $589 million, adding to its line of oral contraceptives and hormone products for women. Barr said it would exchange one of its shares for 3.9032 shares of Duramed. Cincinnati-based Duramed rose 99 cents to $17.89 on Nasdaq, while Barr fell $2.24 to $69.20 on the Big Board.

Barr Laboratories Inc. said it will earn at least 21% more in its fiscal first quarter than previously thought, as health insurers switch U.S. patients to its generic version of the antidepressant Prozac. Barr's forecast followed a profit warning a day earlier by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co., which has seen its antidepressant market share fall by more than 80% since it lost patent protection in August. Pomona, N.Y.-based Barr said it would earn $1.75 to $1.

Drug maker Barr Laboratories Inc. said profit more than doubled in its fiscal fourth quarter, boosted by strong sales of oral contraceptives and generic versions of medicines that recently lost patent protection. Net income climbed to $44.9 million, or 98 cents a share, well above the 85 cents analysts expected, from $19.7 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 27% to $209.4 million.

Barr Laboratories Inc. said all 50 states, led by Texas, ended an inquiry into whether a 1997 agreement between Barr and Bayer unlawfully delayed generic versions of the antibiotic Cipro. The Texas attorney general's office, acting on behalf of the other 49 states and Puerto Rico, was looking into Barr's agreement to withdraw its patent challenge over Cipro and sign a supply contract with Bayer.

Barr Laboratories Inc. said it is voluntarily recalling three lots of its Nortrel 7/7/7 28-day oral contraceptive because they might have been improperly packaged, perhaps increasing the risk of pregnancy. The Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based company said the recall affects lots 290122001, 290122002 and 290122003, involving about 470,000 packages. It said it is implementing the recall because two consumers reported the color-coded tablets were in the wrong sequence.

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said they would cooperate in launching generic versions of Sanofi-Aventis' Allegra allergy drug. Barr of Pomona, N.Y., received final approval last week for the generic drug from the Food and Drug Administration. Allegra sales were worth $1.4 billion for the 12 months ended in June, according to research firm IMS Health.

Barr Laboratories Inc. said it is voluntarily recalling three lots of its Nortrel 7/7/7 28-day oral contraceptive because they might have been improperly packaged, perhaps increasing the risk of pregnancy. The Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based company said the recall affects lots 290122001, 290122002 and 290122003, involving about 470,000 packages. It said it is implementing the recall because two consumers reported the color-coded tablets were in the wrong sequence.

A U.S. judge ruled that the 1997 agreement between Barr Laboratories Inc. and Bayer to end a patent suit over the anthrax treatment Cipro wasn't anti-competitive, according to Barr. U.S. District Judge David G. Trager in Brooklyn, N.Y., rejected arguments that the settlement violated antitrust laws. The ruling narrows the scope of some 38 antitrust lawsuits filed by consumers and wholesalers against Pomona, N.Y.-based Barr and Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer.

Eli Lilly & Co. filed a lawsuit seeking to block Barr Laboratories Inc. from selling a generic form of Lilly's osteoporosis drug Evista, which had about $665 million in sales last year. Pomona, N.Y.-based Barr filed for Food and Drug Administration approval to make a generic form of Evista in June, and notified Lilly in October. Lilly, in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in its Indianapolis hometown, said the generic treatment would infringe four patents related to the drug.

Barr Laboratories Inc. must delay introducing its version of AstraZeneca's tamoxifen cancer drug, the Food and Drug Administration said. The maker of generic drugs said it would sue the agency. Barr sells tamoxifen through an agreement with AstraZeneca and had hoped to introduce its formula Aug. 20. The FDA ruling would postpone that to February.

Drug maker Barr Laboratories Inc. said profit more than doubled in its fiscal fourth quarter, boosted by strong sales of oral contraceptives and generic versions of medicines that recently lost patent protection. Net income climbed to $44.9 million, or 98 cents a share, well above the 85 cents analysts expected, from $19.7 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 27% to $209.4 million.

Barr Laboratories Inc. must delay introducing its version of AstraZeneca's tamoxifen cancer drug, the Food and Drug Administration said. The maker of generic drugs said it would sue the agency. Barr sells tamoxifen through an agreement with AstraZeneca and had hoped to introduce its formula Aug. 20. The FDA ruling would postpone that to February.

Barr Laboratories Inc. said all 50 states, led by Texas, ended an inquiry into whether a 1997 agreement between Barr and Bayer unlawfully delayed generic versions of the antibiotic Cipro. The Texas attorney general's office, acting on behalf of the other 49 states and Puerto Rico, was looking into Barr's agreement to withdraw its patent challenge over Cipro and sign a supply contract with Bayer.

Barr Laboratories Inc. said it will earn at least 21% more in its fiscal first quarter than previously thought, as health insurers switch U.S. patients to its generic version of the antidepressant Prozac. Barr's forecast followed a profit warning a day earlier by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co., which has seen its antidepressant market share fall by more than 80% since it lost patent protection in August. Pomona, N.Y.-based Barr said it would earn $1.75 to $1.