Impax and Teva settle suit with over generic ADHD drug

Impax Pharmaceuticals Inc. and partner Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. settled litigation over a generic ADHD drug copied from one that belongs to Johnson & Johnson Inc. Hayward-based Impax (NASDAQ: IPXL) has a deal with Israel's Teva (NYSE: TEVA) to make a generic copy of Concerta, or methylphenidate hydrochloride extended release tablets. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA is based outside Philadelphia and also makes generic drugs. The two companies did not give details of their settlement with the two Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) units, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alza Corp.

Gilead asks FDA to approve new HIV drug booster

An important boosting agent in Gilead Sciences Inc.'s experimental four-in-one Quad pill for HIV patients was formally submitted for approval Thursday to the Food and Drug Administration.

Foster City-based Gilead (NASDAQ: GILD) said it asked the FDA to approve cobicistat, a boosting agent that increases blood levels of some protease inhibitors, including elvitegravir. The booster allows elvitegravir, which Gilead submitted Wednesday for approval, to be given once a day as part of the Quad pill.

Genentech sets new target: Alzheimer's

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Genentech isn’t just for cancer anymore.

The South San Francisco-based biotech powerhouse has inked its second deal focused on Alzheimer’s disease, giving it a potential one-two punch against the main suspects in the debilitating brain disease. But the collaboration with Swiss biotech AC Immune SA, announced June 18, also signals how aggressively Genentech is pursuing neuroscience.

After nearly three decades of developing and selling blockbuster cancer-fighting drugs like Avastin, Herceptin and the recently approved Perjeta, Genentech expects to use its expertise in antibodies to treat neurodegenerative diseases.

“Our ambitions are to be equally known in neuroscience” as in cancer, said James Sabry, Genentech's vice president of partnering.