"A foundation of this business has been," says Perrigo's Americas consumer business chief, Jeffrey Needham, "we are a fast follower. That's been our traditional model. We can't afford to do that going forward." In addition to initiating moving ingredients from Rx to OTC, firm is developing "national better brand" versions of drugs already available OTC.

Following investor day conference, market analysts gave Perrigo points for an ambitious three-year plan while also noting the degree of difficulty it faces in succeeding. Other changes planned to stem slump sales and earnings slump include potentially getting into CBD supplement space and getting back into VMS manufacturing after leaving the sector in one of several moves since 2015 intended to help drive net income and improve its margin.

Commissioner Gottlieb highlights the first of two draft guidances US FDA will publish on developing "novel, inhaled nicotine replacement therapies that could be submitted to the FDA for approval as new drugs, similar to current" OTC  nicotine replacement therapies. FDA has had a contentious history with manufacturers of electronic nicotine devices, but officials have said the products are eligible for review as NRTs through the NDA process.