Today Mylan announced that they had received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Anastrozole tablets, 1 mg, the generic version of AstraZeneca’s Arimidex, a treatment for early breast cancer.

According to IMS Health, Anastrozole tablets had sales in the US of approximately $917 million for the last year ending March 31, 2010 . The product is available for immediate shipment.

Pr Newswire Reported that,

Currently, Mylan has 136 ANDAs pending FDA approval representing $94 billion in annual brand sales, according to IMS Health. Forty-one of these pending ANDAs are potential first-to-file opportunities, representing $20.4 billion in annual brand sales, for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2009 according to IMS Health.

This should help those who are struggling to pay for the treatment. If you would like to save even more on Arimidex, join No Prescription Needed today!

Today, a new arthritis drug manufactured by Pozen and AstraZeneca received FDA approval. The new drug Vimovo will combine the popular heart burn drug Nexium with a generic pain killer.

Vimovo will attempt to fill the need of a drug that can reduce the risk of stomach ulcers that usually accompany most commonly used pain killers. Vimovo is a combination of naproxen, an anti-inflammatory pain reliever, and Nexium.

According to WSJ.com,

Jefferies analyst Eun Yang projects peak annual sales of Vimovo at $300 million and expects it to launch in late summer, calling it a “modest” product for AstraZeneca.

Yang said Vimovo, as a combination product, mainly provides convenience to patients and could face insurance reimbursement challenges.

Combination drugs are not exactly groundbreaking but offer more convenience and sometimes are more cost effective and can be found in almost all drug categories. Some common combination drug examples are Lopressor (beta blocker/diuretic), Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin), Avandamet (Metformin hydrochloride/rosiglitazone maleate), and Hyzaar (Losartan and hydrochlorothiazide).

Vimovo was approved to treat osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and to decrease the risk of developing gastric ulcers in patients at risk of developing non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-associated gastric ulcers. The pill is to be taken twice daily.

In a clinical trial of the drug, there was a 4.1% incidence of ulcers in Vimovo patients, compared to 23.1% among patients taking a coated form of naproxen. In a second similarly structured study, the incidence was 7.1%, compared to 24.3%.

Reports today show that Novartis said its profit climbed from $1.98 billion to $2.93 billion, as sales climbed 25% to $12.13 billion. Its “core” per-share profit of $1.45 was well ahead of analyst estimates of $1.26.

Novartis counted on Diovan, Lucentis, and Gleevec to keep money flowing in. Lucentis saw sales surge 59% to $364 million. Cancer-drug sales climbed 20% to $2.4 billion, with $1.03 billion of sales coming from leukemia drug Gleevec. Diovan sales edged up 3% to $1.44 billion strongly due to the fact that Teva won the right to sell generic version of Merck’s Cozaar (Diovan’s competitor).

According to Marketwatch.com,

It’s still pursuing the buyout of the shares it doesn’t already hold in Alcon. Novartis said it’s on track to get 77% of the company as a sale of a stake from Nestle closes. Minority shareholders of Alcon have rejected an offer from Novartis that was substantially less per share than what the Swiss drug maker was willing to pay Nestle.

Novartis said it’s still targeting mid-single-digit sales growth at constant currencies.

Unlike rival Eli Lilly, Novartis didn’t cut guidance due to the recently passed U.S. health-care legislation.

“The greater diversity and lower U.S. exposure in Novartis versus its peers serves it well in this regard,” said Jeffrey Holford, an analyst at Jefferies.

It is a shame that the drug companies are still raking in the profits while our country is in a recession. There is no excuse for our government to allow American consumers to be taken advantage of on a daily basis. You don’t have to pay these inflated prices for your prescription medication. Join NoPrescriptioNeeded.com today.

A well known low-cost drug known improved diabetes symptoms was found in a Boston study being published today, and its success supports an entirely new way of understanding the disease.

The drug, called salsalate, is also being studied as a potential treatment for repeat heart attacks and to stall development of Type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, currently affects over 20 million Americans, most commonly affecting those that gain a considerable amount of weight. Scientists know there is a connection between weight gain and diabetes but have had a hard time connecting the dots. Salsalate is known to have anti-inflammatory properties, results of original studies suggest that the extra pounds cause chronic inflammation, triggering a cascade of problems from diabetes to heart disease to eye troubles.

“We should all exercise and reduce our body weight, but if we fail to do that, this might be a good drug,’’ said Dr. Marc Y. Donath, a diabetes researcher and professor at University Hospital in Zurich.

Though chemically resembling aspirin, salsalate causes far fewer stomach problems and has none of the bleeding risks. It has been used for about 40 years to treat the joint pain of arthritis, with few known side effects, and sells for as little as 16 cents per pill here at NoPrescriptioNeeded.com.

The only drawback is the drug’s low cost might actually hurt its chances of reaching patients. Normally, big pharma tries to shut down things like this that they don’t stand to make much money on.

Buy tricor and fenofibrate online

Although Abbott Laboratories have reached a deal with generic drug maker Teva for the rights to cholesterol drug TriCor, stipulations could push back the release of generic TriCor till July of 2012. This is bad news for those who were looking forward to a cheaper version of the drug being released soon.

Abbott has a track record of abusing the system in order to delay generic competition. According to CNN Money,

Abbott and Fournier were sued earlier this decade for alleged abuse of the patent system to ward off competition for TriCor from generic drug makers. Among the plaintiffs in the antitrust action was Impax Laboratories Inc. (IPXL). The generic-drug maker a month ago said it began a challenge of TriCor patents.

The deal with Teva results in litigation between the two companies being dropped. Abbott spokesman Kelly Morrison said the agreement “allows Abbott to maintain certainty” about when generic competition begins.

Abbott has been abusing the system since the 1960′s when the generic version of TriCor known as fenofibrate was discovered by a French company and began selling the drug throughout Europe in 1975. Abbott discovered this, and licensed it in the late 90′s. When the original patent ran out, Abbott patented a new way to make it, holding off generic drug production and protecting profits.

Once again, Abbott is trying to keep American consumers from receiving TriCor at a lower more reasonable price, you can easily buy TriCor online much cheaper here, at No Prescription Needed.