Investment firm J. Burke Capital Partners has increased its strategic investment into Leading Edge Innovations, a Branchburg, N.J., company that develops cosmetic formulas in skin care, sun care, hair care and other related categories for use in over-the-counter drugs and personal care products.

One of the long-term goals of many drug companies has been to win Food and Drug Administration approval for cholesterol-lowering statins as over-the-counter drugs. But it's a goal that has long eluded them due to the agency's concerns about patient safety.

What new prescription and OTC drugs are top of mind among retail pharmacists? How often do pharmacists REALLY recommend private label?

NexMed USA on Thursday received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to market the company's first over-the-counter antifungal drug, Tolnaftate-D.

Generic drug maker Perrigo reported sales of $2.76 billion and profits of $341 million in fiscal year 2011, according to an earnings report released Tuesday.

Four legislators on Thursday introduced legislation that would restore over-the-counter medicines as qualified reimbursements under health spending accounts and flexible spending accounts without a prescription.

Product recalls over the past two years have eroded consumer trust in over-the-counter drugs; however, those same recalls represent opportunity for smaller market players to gain exposure and build brand awareness, wrote Laura Mahecha, industry manager for health care at research firm Kline, in an online report issued Wednesday.

Winn-Dixie on Monday announced that its pharmacy will offer specially designed medication disposal envelopes to help its customers safely dispose of unused, outdated or unwanted medications.

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention last week announced that it is working with the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association to update quality standards for widely used medicines and ingredients. Updated test methodologies are crucial to help counter economically motivated adulteration — in which less expensive and potentially harmful ingredients are substituted for genuine medicines or their ingredients — and also to address the challenge of impurities that may go undetected with older, nonspecific assays and tests.

Actavis last week named Lisa Buono to lead its over-the-counter drug division as part of the company’s strategic expansion of the division.

Companion legislation, which seeks to change a provision in the healthcare-reform law and permit Americans to use their flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts to buy over-the-counter medications without a prescription, has the support of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.