News

Drug manufacturers are challenging the discounted drug program, but if they are blamed for the closing of rural hospitals that depend on 340B funds, the challenge may have a serious downside, warned an expert on the program.

Jayne Hornung, Chief Clinical Officer, Pharmacy, MMIT addresses the difference between digital therapeutics in the pharmacy and medical benefit space, and digs into the potential causes of the slow uptake in digital therapeutics among payers during this year's Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas.

Doug Long, vice president of Industry Relations at IQVIA spoke on how the current inflationary trend in the economy affects healthcare spending and prices, as well as the trend of specialty drugs accounting for half of the drug spend in healthcare. Hear more of what he shared with our team at this year's Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas.

In a session on ecommerce and pharmacy, Amazon Pharmacy executives said they want to make the online pharmacy experience easy to navigate and pricing transparent.

In their general session, Adam J. Fein, PhD of Drug Channels Institute, and Doug Long of IQVIA reviewed the current specialty pharmacy space, ongoing trends and future expectations.

Jayson Slotnik, partner at Health Policy Strategies, Inc, addresses the most recent developments in value-based contracting and how it affects specialty pharmacy at this year's Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas.

Sonia Oskouei, PharmD, vice president of Biosimilars at Cardinal Health, spoke on pharmacists playing a bigger role in driving biosimilar adoption in 2023 and beyond during Asembia's 2022 Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas.

IQVIA’s Lucas Greenwalt says manufacturers need to provide patient assistance if they want their new brands to meet sales goals as payers devise strategies to cope with cost and the increasing number of ultra-expensive medications skyrockets.

Tracy Russell, senior director of state government affairs at CoverMyMeds addressed what piece of new federal legislation will have the biggest effect on specialty pharmacy and what the Biden administration's emphasis on healthcare equity will do for specialty pharmacy. Russell spoke more on this topic at this year's Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas.

An animal study of histotripsy suggests that powerful, focused ultrasound might be a way of treating liver cancer. It is a preliminary study. Much more research will need to be done before the technology is accepted as safe and effective.

In patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, the 12-item Patient Reported Outcomes in Chronic Rhinosinusitis had a stronger correlation with type 2 inflammatory biomarkers than a more widely used measure.

It’s been a busy week at the FDA. The agency has approved mavacamten for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an oral therapy for yeast infections, an additional indication for Ultomiris, Rinvoq and Veklury. Additionally, Moderna seek EUA for vaccine for young children and the FDA will hold an advisory committee meeting for both Xphozah in kidney disease and Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The approval includes a REMS program because some patients experience a worrying drop in left ventricular ejection fraction.

About 6,000 attendees are expected for the meeting next week that will also have Adam Fein and Doug Long as featured speakers.

Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, spoke with Nancy Lurker, CEO and president of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals. Nancy shared a bit about EyePoint and how the organization’s innovative therapies are addressing patient needs through eye care, and most importantly, she addressed C-Suite positions like the CEO role. Nancy shared advice for those seeking to reach the CEO level, especially toward women in healthcare and other roles, and what it takes to run a biopharma company.

Accurate data and comprehensive analysis enable health plans and healthcare providers to advance the safe use of medication.

Veklury gets full approval for use in children and the Biden Administration commits to expanding the Test-to Treat initiative and getting COVID-19 anti-virals to those who need them.

Nearly all employers expect to offer virtual care to meet demand for medical and behavioral health services.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the approval of the COVID-19 treatment Veklury (remdesivir) today to include pediatric patients 28 days of age and older.

Significant changes to Star Ratings are in store for 2023, which will directly impact health plans in many ways. For example, their ability to market to members year-round. Included are three things health plans should act on now to maintain or boost quality scores, plan growth and retention, and financial health.

Patient deductibles are likely to continue rising in coming years, and healthcare providers will have to implement strategies to continue providing patients with the best possible care.

The FDA has approved a generic of Zavesca for Gaucher disease and has accepted applications for a supplement indication for Enhertu and a novel therapy for CKD-related anemia. The regulatory agency also issued a CRL for Teva’s schizophrenia drug.

The company's services will be white labeled under the hospital system’s brand.

The World Health Organization now recommends Paxlovid and Veklury for non-severe COVID-19 at high risk of hospitalization but still advises against use in mild disease with low risk of hospitalization.

Despite missing the primary end point of significantly reducing oral corticosteroid dose, patients with asthma on Tezspire in the SOURCE trial received other benefits from the drug.

Enterprise imaging platforms would enable organizations to consistently and optimally capture, index, manage, store, distribute, view, exchange and analyze all clinical imaging and multimedia content, enhancing patients’ electronic health records.

Pediatric severe asthma is a heterogeneous disease and based on data, a multi-disciplinary approach can improve the diagnosis and management of these children.

As of early this year, as many as 23 million Americans may have developed long COVID, in which symptoms persist four or more weeks after first being infected with the virus. The condition is likely to have additional long-term effects that are not yet clear. However, the U.S. has begun to obtain a glimpse of long COVID’s far-reaching impact on those who suffer from it - and the picture is rather disturbing.