FDA panel recommends strains for 2013-2014 flu vaccine
FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) recently held a meeting to make recommendations for the composition of the 2013-2014 influenza vaccine. The panel determined the new trivalent vaccine will retain a current strain but 2 other strains will be replaced.
The VRBPAC recommended that trivalent vaccines for the upcoming flu season contain an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm-09-like virus, the same vaccine strain found in this current season’s vaccine. The panel, however, recommended replacing the current A/Victoria/361/2011(H3N2)-like virus with a similar strain, A/Texas/50/2012, and replacing the current B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus with a B/Massachusetts/2/2012-like virus.
A quadrivalent vaccine will be available for the upcoming season. The VRBPAC recommended using the same three virus strains mentioned above in addition to a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.
These recommendations match those made by the World Health Organization for the northern hemisphere vaccines.
For week 9 of the current flu season (ending March 2), flu activity remained elevated in the United States but decreased in most areas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s FluView report.
David Calabrese of OptumRx Talks Top Three Drugs in Pipeline, Industry Trends in Q2
July 1st 2020In this week's episode of Tuning Into The C-Suite podcast, MHE's Briana Contreras chatted with David Calabrese, R.Ph, MHP, who is senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer of pharmacy care services company, OptumRx. David is also a member of Managed Healthcare Executives’ Editorial Advisory Board. During the discussion, he shared the OptumRx Quarter 2 Drug Pipeline Insights Report of 2020. Some of the information shared includes the three notable drugs currently being reviewed or those that have been recently approved by the FDA. Also discussed were any interesting industry trends to watch for.
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