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At the annual SMaRT Awards last week in Birmingham, UK, Actavis were triumphant, winning Best POM to P Switch of the Year Award for Clamelle. The Clamelle training materials were also awarded Highly Commended in the Best Educational Initiative for Pharmacists category.

The SmaRT (Sales, Marketing and Retail Training) Awards, sponsored by Numark, exist to acknowledge the excellence of training initiatives and sales and marketing support programmes provided by drug manufacturers to pharmacists and their staff.

Best switch

Clamelle was awarded the title of Best POM to P switch in the pharmaceutical industry in 2008. Following the reclassification of azithromycin 500mg from prescription-only (POM) to pharmacy (P, OTC) medicine status, the Clamelle Chlamydia Test Kit and Clamelle Azithromycin 500mg tablets were launched in November 2008, under the banner of the Clamelle Chlamydia Service.

Competition in this category was fierce with Feminax Ultra (naproxen), Bayer and Voltarol (diclofenac), Novartis Consumer Health.

Excellent Educational Initiative

The Clamelle training materials which were prepared to support the launch of Clamelle were highly commended in this category. All UK pharmacists and pharmacy assistants received the training materials which were accredited by both NPA and CPP.

Generic pharmaceutical company Actavis has said that its operations will not be impacted by the current financial turmoil in Iceland.

Actavis has released a statement in light of recent market events in the Icelandic financial sector.

”Actavis is not exposed to the Icelandic banks in regards to funding or normal banking facilities. Our banking operations are with international banks not exposed to the current events in Iceland. We therefore, as before, have full banking operations without restrictions, both to make payments and receive payments.”

The company also said its books are in euros and that it will remain focused on providing quality pharmaceutical products to its customers.

Actavis is a global generic drugs company with a turnover of around EUR1.7bn this year. Only1% of its revenue is generated in Iceland.

The company says it continues to see rising demand and will launch new products to customers in the US, Europe and other major markets.

Actavis, which is headquartered in Reykjavik, has operations in 40 countries around the world and 11,000 employees.

Visit the Actavis website for more information on the generic drugs manufacturer.

Actavis’ generic breast cancer drug, Epirubicin Hydrochloride Injection, has been approved for sale in the US by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Epirubicin Hydrochloride is now the second oncology drug from Actavis approved in the US following Irinotecan Hydrochloride which was authorised earlier this year.

Epirubicin Hydrochloride Injection, the generic to Pfizer’s Ellence®, has been approved in 10 mg / 5 mL, 50 mg / 25 mL, and 200 mg / 100 mL configurations and is indicated as a component of adjuvant therapy in patients with evidence of axillary node tumour involvement following resection of primary breast cancer.

Annual US sales of brand and generic Epirubicin HCl Injection were US$17.5 million for the 12 months ending June 2008 according to IMS Health data.

Actavis currently markets over 50 hospital products worldwide, with a focus on oncology products and a growing range of anti-infectives, local anesthetics and analgesics.

Epirubicin HCl Injection, is developed by Actavis scientists in Romania.

Actavis’ Global Hospital Business Unit, established in 2006 following the acquisition of Sindan in Romania, is comprised of a small team of commercial and technical specialists with extensive experience in the generic hospital market.

The Unit is responsible for the strategic and operational development of a world-class hospital channel business for Actavis in all-important markets worldwide.

Actavis is a leading generic drugs manufacturer based in Iceland. The company has operations in 40 countries and 11,000 employees.

For more information on Actavis and their products, visit www.actavis.com.