News

Baker discusses specialty drugs and their discounting in this segment of his interview with Peter Wehrwein, managing editor of Managed Healthcare Executive.®

In this week's episode, Briana Contreras, an editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, spoke with Chuck Salvo managing director of ToneyKorf Partners. The pair touched on topics involving mergers between healthcare organizations, the question whether CEO's are being replaced and the importance of a board in a healthcare organization.

Kareem Karara, Pharm.D., BCPS, CCHP, spoke about unbranded biologics, which are identical the branded products. They are coming on the market amid a growing number of biosimilars.

Most (91%) of the patients were seen by gastroenterologists. Those seen by allergists were more likely to have comorbid atopic conditions, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis.

The acquisition provides Biocon Biologics with eight commercial biosimilars, and is part of Viatris’ efforts to pay down debt related to phase 1 research and the company’s acquisition of two ophthalmology businesses.

Dr. Syra Madad of the NYC hospital system and an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs responded to Dr. Anthony Fauci's, director of NIAID, statement made in late November that the U.S. is “certainly” still in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic.

In COVID-19 news, the FDA has expanded the updated bivalent vaccines EUA to children. The FDA has requested athe removal of Pepaxto indication for multiple myeloma. Regulators have also accepted several applications for: Biogen’s Actemra biosimilar, Pfizer’s RSV vaccine, a resubmitted BLA for Fabry disease. Two companies — Janssen’s and Alnylam — have submitted new applications.

Patients with severe asthma with or without coexisting chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps (CRSwNP) experienced continued improvements in exacerbations and lung function in an extension study.

As soon as next year, enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans are expected to exceed 50% of the entire Medicare eligible population. For the first time ever, the majority of Medicare beneficiaries will receive health benefits delivered by a private health plan, rather than through traditional, fee-for-service Medicare.

Magellan Rx's businesses includes a 1.7-million member PBM. The deal is struck amid a long-time trend toward consolidation in the pharmacy benefit management industry.

Seven of the 10 top selling drugs with high price increases lack the clinical evidence to justify those increases.

Patients with eosinophilic esophagitis experience a range of symptoms that can vary by age, which may contribute to younger patients experiencing a delay in diagnosis, according to a poster presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.

Magellan Rx's businesses includes a 1.7-million member PBM. The deal is struck amid a long-time trend toward consolidation in the pharmacy benefit management industry.

Payers face the logistical challenge of coordinating a network of new, non-medical services to ensure members are referred to the right provider at the right time.

This week, the FDA made two approvals, the first-ever microbiota product and a second indication for Brexafemme, and issued a CRL for a therapy for brain metastasis from neuroblastoma. The regulatory agency also granted priority review for a Duchenne gene therapy, and accepted three applications: for a cutaneous T-cell lymphoma therapy, for an antibiotic for drug-resistant infections and Evkeeza for children with rare high cholesterol. Additionally, Genentech has withdrawn Tecentriq’s indication for bladder cancer and Aldeyra has submitted an NDA for the novel dry eye therapy reproxalap.

Short-term manufacturing problems are happening as the demand for Adderall and other stimulant medications for ADHD have increased. Data from Arrive Health show a marked increase in ADHD medication prescriptions for people in their 30s.

In this week’s episode of "Tuning In to the C-Suite," Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, spoke with Ramin Bastani, CEO of Healthvana.

What does it take for a healthcare organization to effectively expedite and achieve a digital transformation? Start with the fundamentals, like having an integrated transformation strategy with clear goals across the enterprise, highly visible and vocal top-down leadership, and exceptional tactical talent for implementation.

39% of healthcare industry professionals expect investment in emerging technologies to decrease due to inflation and rising costs.

Some telemedicine software is so complex that it can lead to repetitive, mundane processes that are prone to frustration and mistakes.

To truly transform healthcare, we must create a connected care journey: delivering care that meets patients where they are, when they need it, and continues to be personalized for them through their entire health journey, wherever that may lead next.

The FDA has approved a $3.5 million hemophilia B gene therapy and warned about Prolia in patients with kidney disease. The agency accepted for priority review two BLAs: for a dengue vaccine and for epcoritamab for large B-cell lymphoma. Additionally, GSK has pulled Blenrep from the U.S. market at the request of the FDA.

In this final video of a three-part video series, Oncologist and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Quest Diagnostics, Dr. Yuri Fesko, shares a key takeaway from Quest's recent Health Trends Survey. Results reveal how cancer diagnosis numbers are still lagging to pre-pandemic levels of 11%. Fesko adds that bringing cancer screenings to the community can increase diagnosis numbers, leading to care sooner.

AMCP CEO Susan A. Cantrell spoke with Managed Healthcare Executive® about Preapproval Information Exchange (PIE) Act of 2022, which would allow drug manufacturers to share information about a drug with payers before the drug is approved. Cantrell says passage of the PIE Act would speed up patient access to new medications.

In this week's episode, Editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, Briana Contreras, had the pleasure of speaking with Chief Clinical Officer of WellSky, Tim Ashe, about the issue of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cutting rates for Medicare home health. Tim addressed the solutions that are either underway or those that can potentially preserve access to these services.

Dr. Yuri Fesko of Quest Diagnostics says the "pathways approach" helped one health system speed the time between diagnosis and targeted treatment for lung cancer by as much as a month for some patients. This is the second part of a three-part video series.

Oncologist and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Quest Diagnostics, Dr. Yuri Fesko, talks about why shortening this gap is critical to ensuring better patient outcomes and shared steps hospitals, health systems and physicians can take now to reduce testing delays, improve outcomes and lower costs of care. This is the first part of a three-part video series.

Leading health providers are implementing AI to improve patient and staff safety and quality, allowing them to accomplish their technological innovation goals for better use of resources, with higher satisfaction.