FDA On Pace To Approve 18 New Drugs In 2008

Dow Jones -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved nine new medicines as of the end of June, putting it on pace to be one of the slowest years for new drug approvals in the last five years.Drugs approved this year include Wyeth's (WYE) Pristiq, used to treat depression, Cephalon Inc.'s (CEPH) leukemia drug Treanda and UCB SA's (UCB.BT) Cimzia for Crohn's disease, which causes irritation in the digestive tract.