Specialty Pharmacy

With the approval of several new therapies in hepatitis C, by late 2013, the 2011 hepatitis C treatment guidelines were well out of date. A multidisciplinary group of infectious disease specialists and hepatology specialists have changed that with a website offering treatment guideline updates at unprecedented speed.

A study suggests that antiretroviral therapy has benefits even in patients who do not show a virologic or immunologic response.

Methods to manage rising specialty drug costs were addressed in a session at the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute's 2014 Annual Drug Benefit Conference.

Gary Rice, RPh, MS, MBA, vice president of clinical services at Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, discusses compliance packaging options.

Nominations for the fifth annual Next-Generation Pharmacist awards, co-founded by Pharmacy Times and Parata Systems, are now being accepted.

The race is on to develop a topical preventive agent for reducing the transmission of HIV. Researchers at the University of Texas report in vitro efficacy of a vaginal cream containing silver nanoparticles. Other researchers are already reporting favorable results in human studies of an antiretroviral-containing gel.

Most patients receiving antiretroviral therapy do not meet the minimum threshold for medication adherence, but patients on single-tablet medication regimens tended to meet that threshold.

A recent trial indicates that the antinausea medication ondansetron may have some utility in treating the symptoms of diarrhea-associated irritable bowel syndrome.

Payers will encourage the use of biosimilars where appropriate through the use of step edits, lower tiers, and novel strategies, said Steven Lucio, Senior Director, Clinical Solutions and Pharmacy Program Development at Novation.

Saliva tests for detecting anti–hepatitis C antibodies may not be as effective in patients who also have an HIV infection.

Close on the heels of Vertex Pharmaceuticals' and Bristol-Myers Squibb's announcement of 4-week sustained viral response (SVR4) results with VX-135 and daclatasvir, Medivir AB and Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc announce SVR4 results with simeprevir, ribavirin, and samatasvir.

The combination of Bristol-Myers Squibb's daclatasvir and Vertex Pharmaceuticals' VX-135 shows early promise as an all-oral ribavirin-free and interferon-free treatment for hepatitis C.

MitoQ, an antioxidant drug under development by Antipodean Pharmaceuticals Inc, may have potential in treating multiple sclerosis in addition to other neurologic diseases.

An immunotoxin code-named 3B3-PE38 may help shut down HIV-infected cells, according to researchers reporting results of a trial in 40 humanized mice.

A testing program that screens for HIV when patients have indicator disease can catch the virus early, but should be coupled with patient education.

Receptos is set to start phase III trials of a sphingosine-1–phosphate-1–receptor modulator codenamed RPC1063. Trial investigators are recruiting participants.

Combination therapy using Bristol-Myers Squibb's daclatasvir and Gilead Sciences Inc's sofosbuvir has attained a sustained viral response 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12) in more than 90% of patients with hepatitis C, regardless of prior treatment.

Immunogenicity is an important consideration for all biologics, not just for biosimilars, noted Steven Lucio, Senior Director, Clinical Solutions and Pharmacy Program Development at Novation.

The American Journal of Managed Care presents exclusive videos from the 2013 Patient-Centered Oncology Care: Real-World Perspectives conference.

Investigators strengthened the results of a 2012 trial with a long-term follow-up of an important phase III trial evaluating a bortezomib-based regimen versus a vincristine-based regimen.

Amid conflicting evidence, Swedish researchers have found an association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and alcohol consumption, but the benefits of regular moderate alcohol intake in reducing the risk of MS may be attenuated by smoking.

The latest lung cancer screening recommendations suggest that heavy smokers be screened for the disease annually once they reach 55 years of age.

In an important change to the prescribing information of Xeloda (capecitabine), Hoffman-La Roche, in cooperation with Health Canada, released an advisory on the potential for Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis with use of the oral chemotherapy agent.

Interchangeability designations for biosimilars would make therapy substitutions easier for pharmacists, noted Steven Lucio of Novation, but the FDA has said they will not grant an interchangeability status to a biosimilar upon initial approval.

The controversial chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency theory states that constricted vasculature is part of the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis. A recent trial shows that the theory may be a scientific dead end.

FIT biotech, a Finnish company, expects to begin clinical trials of a vaccine for HIV-infected patients in 2014.