8 April 2005
LILLY ANNOUNCES DISCONTINUATION OF HUMAJECT PRE-FILLED PEN
Lilly today ( 5 April 2005 ) announced that it is discontinuing supply of the HumaJect pen in June 2006, the company’s oldest available insulin delivery technology.  The pen is used for the delivery of two forms of human insulin: Humulin S (human soluble insulin) and Humulin M3 (30% soluble, 70% isophane insulin).  Both of these insulins will continue to be available in a reusable pen or a syringe.  In addition, Humulin M3 will be available in Lilly’s most up-to-date pre-filled pen from June 2005.

25 February 2005
No limit to out-of-town contracts
There will be no limit to the number of pharmacies that could apply for an out-of-town contract under the new control of entry rules, the DoH said this week.

However, the number could be limited by planning restrictions or restrictive covenants at the shopping developments, the DoH confirmed. The decision would be for the local authority or shopping development management concerned, it added.

The DoH has also updated its provisional list of out-of-town centre shopping developments that will be exempt from the forthcoming changes to pharmacy control of entry regulations.

Of the 119 out-of-town centres now listed, London tops the list with seven sites.

Link contracts with one-year guarantee, says LPC
Lincolnshire LPC is calling for action against companies who apply for a pharmacy contract only to sell it on straight away.

In a motion to be debated at next week’s LPC conference, the LPC says that “many applications for a pharmacy contract in a new surgery development are made by the developer forming a new pharmacy company which will never handle a single FP10”.

It wants PSNC to “deplore” the action of developers who go through “the contrivance of setting up pharmacy companies purely with the intention of re-selling to the highest bidder”. It argues that only “bona fide” pharmacy companies should be able to tender for such contracts and that, if successful, should guarantee to offer services for at least a year.

29 January, 2005
Drug recall
IVAX Pharmaceuticals is recalling all batches of its lorazepam 1mg and 2.5mg tablets because stability samples have failed to meet required specifications and the product may be sub-potent before its use by date. The recall applies to both 100 and 28 pack sizes.

Dispensers should quarantine any remaining stock and return them to their supplier for credit. There is no expected patient risk, the MHRA has said.

Test strip recall
Sigma Pharmaceuticals is recalling some batches of parallel imported Medisense Optium Plus blood glucose test strips because some leaflets are not in English. The affected batch numbers are: 10149, 10128, 10150 and 10195.

BAPW welcomes DoH plan to move branded generics out of PPRS
The British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers has welcomed a Department of Health consultation on branded generics, which proposes to move the category out of the PPRS agreement, reached last year.

Welcoming the consultation, Martin Sawer, BAPW executive director, commented: "Moving branded generics out of PPRS seems to make sense - the PPRS is about setting prices for companies who need to be rewarded for the investment they make in research and development of new products.

“Including branded generics clouds the agreement for manufacturers and for the Department of Health. This is a helpful step down the road of making the pricing of medicines more transparent and more logical for the customer."