FDA Updates for Week of March 4, 2024: Wegovy Gets New Indication
March 9th 2024The FDA has approved Wegovy for reducing cardiovascular risks in people who are obese or overweights. The agency approved new biosimilars that reference Actema, Prolia and Xgeva. Additionally, the FDA plans to hold advisory committee meeting for donanemab in Alzheimer’s disease.
Read More
What Do TikTok Videos Have To Say About Isotretinoin? | AAD 2024
March 9th 2024A content analysis of 75 TikTok videos showed that most have positive information about the oral acne medication, which was previously sold under the brand name Accutane. But larger majority (77%) of the videos have negative information about isotretinoin, and a large percentage of those videos give the positive effects only a passing mention, if any at all.
Read More
Reasons for attending the AAD meeting | AAD 2024
March 7th 2024John Barbieri, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, is looking forward to the upcoming 2024 American Academy of Dermatology meeting, which runs from March 8-12 in San Diego. Barbieri is particularly showing interest in late-breaking abstracts and trial data and hoping to see cutting-edge information from pivotal clinical trials.
Read More
Latest Vaccines and Antiviral Treatments Show Promising Results in Reducing Severe COVID Outcomes
March 7th 2024It was found in a recent study that the updated Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Novavax COVID-19 vaccines, when combined with antiviral treatments like nirmatrelvir and molnupiravir, can significantly decrease the chances of hospitalization and death from current COVID-19 variants.
Read More
Upended: Can PBM Transparency Succeed?
March 6th 2024Simmering tensions in the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) industry have turned into fault lines. The PBMs challenging the "big three" have formed a trade association. Purchaser coalitions want change. The head of the industry's trade group says inherent marketplace friction has spilled over into political friction.
Read More
Socioeconomic Status Is the Biggest Reason Women Don’t Get Breast Cancer Screening
March 5th 2024Women experiencing high levels of poverty and those in impoverished rural regions are less likely to get screened for breast cancer, find a new review of studies that have assessed social determinants of health.
Read More
Information Blocking Will Cost Hospitals, Other Providers Under Proposed ONC Rules
March 5th 2024Hospitals and healthcare software developers are adjusting to a world in which blocking healthcare data will come with potentially stiff penalties under rules proposed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
Read More
Florida Gets the OK. But Will Drug Importation from Canada Actually Happen?
March 5th 2024Canadian health officials warn that maintaining a drug supply for Canadians is their priority. The staunch opposition of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry may also be an obstacle to imports from north of the border.
Read More
Using the Healthcare Utility Model to Manage Pharmacy Cost for Patients and Payers
March 4th 2024CivicaScript, a generic medication manufacturer, is modeling itself as public utility. It launched its first product, abiraterone 250 mg tablets, late last year and is gearing up to make its own low-cost insulin.
Read More
FDA has expanded the indication for Biktarvy for those with resistant HIV, granted full approval to Rybrevant and approved Simlandi, the third interchangeable Humira biosimilar. The regulatory agency has also set action dates for sxatilimab in graft-versus-host disease, tislelizumab in stomach cancer and a second indication for Epkinly.
Read More
UnitedHealth Says a “New Instance” of Change Healthcare Is Up and Running
March 2nd 2024The company has confirmed that group representing itself as ALPHV/Blackcat, a ransomware-as-service criminal group known to cybersecurity experts, is behind the cyberattack on the pharmacy claims processor owned by UnitedHealth.
Read More
In this second part of a video series, AMCP CEO Susan Cantrell addressed the impact of high prescription drug prices on underserved communities, highlighting disparities in access caused by the pandemic's effects on minority populations. On the industry blame debate, she urged collaborative solutions, mentioning AMCP's engagement with diverse stakeholders to find comprehensive, patient-centric solutions and advocate for policy changes like the MVP Act to address rising costs and access challenges.
Read More