Generic Brands

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. won clearance to sell the first generic version of Pfizer Inc.'s cancer drug Camptosar. The Food and Drug Administration approved Watson's generic irinotecan hydrochloride after patents on the brand-name drug expired. Corona-based Watson said it was entitled to 180 days of market exclusivity before the FDA could approve another generic.

At least three generic versions of the popular osteoporosis treatment Fosamax are headed for pharmacy shelves with the expiration of the drug's main patent Wednesday, bringing patients hefty savings. Two of the biggest makers of generic drugs, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., said Wednesday they would immediately begin selling generic Fosamax, which is made by Merck & Co.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. will begin shipping generic versions of Merck & Co.'s osteoporosis drug Fosamax. Merck will make and supply the drug and receive a share of the profit in the U.S., Corona-based Watson said. Sales of Fosamax dropped 3% to $3 billion last year, Whitehouse, N.J.-based Merck reported Jan. 30. The drug is expected to lose market exclusivity at the close of business today, according to Watson.

The next time your pharmacist hands over a prescription and the bill, consider handing something back -- a coupon. More than 200 drug coupons available online or from doctors or pharmacists have face values that could save individual consumers tens to hundreds of dollars each year. But few patients seem to know about them. Only about 1% of the 286 billion grocery coupons distributed last year were redeemed, according to market research firm CMS Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. added 24 prescriptions to a list of $4 generic drugs to lure more customers into its pharmacies and said it would consider a 90-day prescription program.

RECENTLY, managed-care insurance companies have been increasing their pressure on me and other doctors to change patients over to generic alternatives to some of our most popular drugs. On the surface, this would appear to be a good idea, one that saves money and thus should be a primary consideration when prescribing drugs. Sometimes it is -- but not always. It had taken me several years to convince Roger to take Lipitor (atorvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering medication.

A Canadian company's generic version of the blood thinner Plavix has been blocked from the U.S. market until at least 2011. U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein said Tuesday that Apotex Inc. had failed to prove during a three-week trial in New York this year that the patent protecting Plavix from competitors was invalid. Apotex said it would file an immediate appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington.

The first generic versions of insomnia drug Ambien won federal approval. The Food and Drug Administration said it approved versions of the tablets made by 13 drug companies for the short-term treatment of insomnia. A patent held by Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis on the drug, also called zolpidem tartrate, expired Saturday.

Walgreen Co.'s fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 25%, more than analysts estimated, on increased sales of more-profitable generic drugs. Net income climbed to $651.9 million, or 65 cents a share, from $523.5 million, or 51 cents, a year earlier, the company said. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast profit of 61 cents at the largest U.S. drugstore chain. Sales at Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreen rose 15% to $13.9 billion.

Pfizer Inc.'s patent on the hypertension drug Norvasc was invalidated by an appeals court Thursday, opening the way for generic competition to the company's second-biggest seller. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington held invalid the patent on the drug's key ingredient, amlodipine besylate, overturning a January 2006 ruling by District Judge James M. Rosenbaum in Chicago.