Label Change: The FDA is warning that people using Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ diabetes drug Actos at higher cumulative doses and for longer periods of time may be at a higher risk of bladder cancer, the WSJ reports . The product’s label and medication guide will be updated to reflect the possible risk after interim study results suggested no overall link with cancer — but signs of an association amongst the heavier users. Takeda is sponsoring the study, which runs through 2012, and says that it remains committed to the drug. Eyeing Approval: In other FDA-related news, agency reviewers said VEGF Trap-Eye, Regeneron’s experimental drug for a form of macular degeneration is effective and doesn’t raise any major safety worries, the WSJ reports . Studies sponsored by the company suggest the drug works as well as Roche’s drug Lucentis; an outside advisory panel will consider the Regeneron drug Friday. The More Things Change …: Efforts to make OxyContin more difficult to abuse by reformulating the highly addictive drug may only have led former users to find other alternatives, the New York Times reports . Thirty-milligram pure oxycodone pills, a painkiller similar to OxyContin and heroin are all showing up more frequently on the street and in overdose reports, the paper says. Reformulated

OxyContin has been available since last summer but the FDA wants more proof before the drug’s maker, Purdue Pharma, can say it is now more abuse-resistant. Exiting Stents: Stent pioneer Johnson & Johnson is getting out of the business in favor of investing in technologies with the potential for higher growth, the WSJ reports . J&J will stop making its drug-coated Cypher stent, stop development of a new device, shutter plants and lay off employees. Demand is growing more slowly, there’s more price competition and J&J’s products have been outpaced by those from competitors like Boston Scientific, Abbott Labs and Medtronic, analysts tell the paper. Faster Approval: Contrary to popular belief, new cancer drugs are approved about 5.5 months sooner in the U.S. than in Europe, Reuters reports , citing a new report from Friends of Cancer Research. The study covered 23 cancer drugs approved in both areas between 2003 and 2010 and found all of them reached the market first in the U.S. Another three drugs were approved in Europe but not in the U.S., while nine were approved by the FDA but didn’t reach the European market, Reuters says. Image: iStockphoto

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A.M. Vitals: FDA Says Heavy Actos Use May Be Tied to Bladder Cancer