Drug Watch: Agents in late-stage development for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (May 2009) (PDF)

It could improve access to community pharmacies and lower prices. Or it will limit access to critical drugs and impact payers’ ability to contract for a broad range of services. Industry leaders are unsure about the impact of Arkansas’ law banning PBMs from owning pharmacies.

In this week's episode of Tuning In to the C-Suite podcast, MHE's Briana Contreras spoke with Dr. Rob Kowal, chief medical officer of the Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure division at Medtronic. The two discussed how remote monitoring and IoT is changing healthcare and how remote technology is also gaining a wide-spread adoption to monitor patients at home who have chronic conditions like heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes.

CDC researchers report a rate of 7.1 per 100,000, an increase from 5.3 per 100,000 in a previous study. But improved diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis might be a factor.

The FDA has accepted the new drug application for the antipsychotic Bysanti and set a goal date for February 21, 2026.

Express Scripts, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, CVS Caremark and Optum Rx are among the payers that have added Yesintek to their formularies.

If approved, Wegovy would be the first oral GLP-1 drug to treat obesity.