Randi Hernandez, Associate Editor/Online

Cultivating a career in specialty pharmacy has never been more exciting.

Legislators in at least 10 states are rushing to introduce pharmacy law that would govern the use of biosimilar substitution-but without further FDA guidance on interchangeability, physicians may be less likely to switch patients to lower-cost alternatives.

This short video from Avella explains the role of specialty pharmacies and how they serve their patients.

The FDA approved Kynamro, a new drug for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia that relies on antisense RNA.

Proponents of companion diagnostics say that although these tests are the keystone of personalized medicine, there are many potential roadblocks to their practical implementation.

Updates to this invaluable industry guide include new portions pertaining to specialty pharmaceuticals, comparative effectiveness research, and companion diagnostics tests, as well as a new definition for the term "specialty pharmacy."

A new report from The Analysis Group created with PhRMA's support highlights how biopharmaceutical industry strategy is shifting from a "me-too" to a "me-first" paradigm.

The class action lawsuit against Anthem Blue Cross alleges their policy mandating that patients use a mail-order specialty pharmacy discriminates against HIV patients.

Forecasted spend amounts in the specialty category often do not account for the spend that occurs under the medical benefit in the outpatient hospital setting.

Uptake of oral nucleoside/nucleotide analogues will increase from 2011 to 2021, according to new research from Decision Resources.

The Breakthrough Therapy initiative, which is part of the 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, will bring promising treatments more quickly through an expedited review process.

Landmark legislation requiring the National Cancer Institute to ramp up their research efforts on cancers with very low survival rates was signed into law early this month.

Payers look to hepatitis C and do not see the value of credentialing bodies in specialty pharmacy, according to The Zitter Group's Fall 2012 Managed Care Biologics and Injectables Index.

A new study revealed that lower doses of Velcade (bortezomib), melphalan (Alkeran) and prednisone (VMP) was effective and safe in extending overall and progression-free survival in older patients.

Representatives from The Dana –Farber Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai, and GNS Healthcare recently announced they are teaming up to pool their data and technology assets in order to build a predictive model of multiple myeloma disease progression.

Looking for mobile apps relevant to your specialty business? Here are 7 recommendations from the editors of Specialty Pharmacy Times.

Clinical pathway programs in oncology will be utilized with more frequency in the coming years and may be instrumental in changing prescribing behavior, according to researchers from Decision Resources.

2 major HIV provider groups recently sent pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers a statement urging them to make their antiretrovirals more accessible to patients.

Adam J. Fein, PhD, discussed how wholesaler strategies must change in order to navigate an evolving drug channel infrastructure at the recent 8th Annual Trade and Channel Strategies Conference.

Commercial health plans have recently started limiting the use of manufacturer copay cards to encourage formulary compliance. The question remains-how will Medicare handle these coupons?

There have been significant increases in the cost of antiretroviral therapies (ART) for individual therapies and in the cost of therapy initiation over the past several years.

The adoption of clinical pathways helps to standardize the cancer care process, and this practice is becoming increasingly popular.

Connexus Technology recently announced it has been recognized as the 2012 Health Care Innovation Consultant of the Year by the Philadelphia Business Journal and presenting sponsor United Healthcare.

By prescribing clinically similar luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone agonists for the treatment of prostate cancer, Medicare could have saved 13% of its total budget for monthly injections, according to a study from the Office of the Inspector General.

In a retrospective analysis, researchers concluded that rheumatoid arthritis patients had better outcomes when they filled their prescriptions through a mail-order specialty pharmacy rather than a retail pharmacy.

New recommendations from the task force say that all Americans aged 15 to 64 years should get an HIV test regardless of their risk for contracting the virus.

In an exclusive interview with Specialty Pharmacy Times, Albert Thigpen, Senior Vice President of Pharmacy Operations & Industry Relations at Catamaran Corporation, spoke about his distinct responsibilities surrounding the management of pharmaceutical manufacturers, Catamaran's 3 mail order pharmacies, and BriovaRx's 11 specialty pharmacies.

A recent study featured in the American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits examines the role of patient out-of-pocket cost on adherence to disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis.

Pfizer's Xeljanz (tofacitinib) is the first Janus kinase inhibitor approved for rheumatoid arthritis and the first oral biologic within the RA class. Dina Rufo of GlobalData discusses the factors that will affect uptake of the drug.

Community Specialty Pharmacy Network, Inc (CSPN), recently announced a distribution agreement with Dara BioSciences for Soltamox (tamoxifen citrate), a nonsteroidal antiestrogen for the treatment of patients with breast cancer.