Specialty Pharmacy

Health care reform will undoubtedly change the way specialty drugs are managed within the distribution supply chain, and specialty pharmacy providers may soon be competing with hospitals for patient share.

Between 21% and 28% of patients taking an oral therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were nonadherent to treatment. Certain groups of patients may benefit from counseling services that promote improved adherence.

A study compared historical and contemporary multiple sclerosis cases to determine how first-generation disease-modifying drugs affected disease progression.

Seniors have medication needs that cannot sufficiently be met by mail-service pharmacy, a recent study in the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy suggests.

The Patients' Access to Treatments Act of 2013 proposes limits on patients' costs for specialty drugs.

Data from a national survey on community health in racial and ethnic groups suggest specific socioeconomic barriers to hepatitis C virus detection and therapy.

Armada Health Care and the Specialty Pharmacy Association of America (SPAARx) today announced their support of 2 key initiatives of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP).

Armada welcomes interested industry experts to submit speaker proposals to join the prestigious faculty for the 10th Annual Specialty Pharmacy Summit & Expo, May 5-9, 2014.

MHA announced today that it has entered into a strategic alliance with CoverMyMeds to help facilitate a more efficient process for completing and submitting drug prior authorizations (PAs).

After promising results from early studies, investigators have received approval to start testing daratumumab in patients with multiple myeloma.

A recent trial supports noninferiority of pazopanib and sunitinib in terms of efficacy, with fewer adverse events associated with patient discomfort occurring with pazopanib than with sunitinib.

Inflectra was approved for treatment of inflammatory conditions by the European Medicines Agency based on evidence that it was as effective, safe, and tolerable as its reference drug, Remicade.

UHC, an alliance of the nation's leading nonprofit academic medical centers, is unveiling a new specialty pharmacy program in late 2013/early 2014 to provide patients with access to the specialty medications they need at the hospitals where they are treated.

Carrie Hurwitz, MBA, director, corporate strategy and business development at McKesson, explains why pharmacists may be the health care providers best positioned to recruit patients into clinical trials.

Magellan Health Services Inc. announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Partners Rx, a privately held, full-service commercial pharmacy benefits management company for $100 million.

New online learning tools aim to educate users about crucial pharmaceutical industry topics in 45 minutes or less.

URAC, an independent accreditation organization advancing quality and value throughout health care, announced the launch of 2 new accreditation programs for Clinical Integration and Accountable Care to address the changing healthcare landscape.

Reports from the United States and Europe reference the lack of long-term effectiveness studies and the lack of comparative effectiveness studies as challenges in determining the most appropriate initial biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

As pharmacogenomics continues to progress, specialty pharmacists may dominate treatment for certain diseases.

The National Psoriasis Foundation Medical Board released a statement supporting the prohibition of biosimilar substitution pending the fulfillment of 7 key measures.

Specialty pharmacy programs helped members save approximately $11 million on high cost specialty medicines, reduced medicine misuse.

Sixty-eight percent of patients with preexisting liver damage and other poor prognostic factors treated with a combination of sofosbuvir and ribavirin attained functional cure of hepatitis C, as measured by sustained viral response 24 weeks after the end of treatment.

Another state sets up the pathway for biosimilar substitution; however, the proposed legislation comes with restrictions on that practice.

Einodshofer of Walgreens explains that it can be difficult to convince oncologists with hospital-owned oncology practices to send patients to alternative treatment sites.

Bayer HealthCare and Onyx Pharmaceuticals today announced that the FDA has granted Priority Review designation to the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for the oral multi-kinase inhibitor Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets under evaluation for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic radioactive iodine (RAI)-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

A recent webinar from Zitter Health Insights highlighted the role of hubs and how these patient assistance programs are viewed by various stakeholders in the health care space.

An assessment of costs and specialty drug use within 4 chronic conditions found specialty drugs contribute to overall costs for insurance plan members.

As pharmacogenomics continues to progress, specialty pharmacists may dominate treatment for certain diseases.

Investigators in Spain have identified a relationship between higher-complexity medication regimens and a lower likelihood of sustained viral response (SVR) after treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Agency aims for consistent biosimilar evaluation procedures, while future in US remains unknown.