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Margetuximab-cmkb (Margenza) was approved in December 2020 in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously received 2 or more anti-HER2 regimens, at least one of which for metastatic disease.

Pharmacy Times spoke with Bhavesh Shah, associate chief pharmacy officer for hematology/oncology, about his session titled Stand Strong Against Platelet Destruction With Tavalisse®: A Patient’s ITP Treatment Journey, which he presented at the 2021 ATOPP Summit.

The risk for developing the rare neurological condition are low following vaccination, with the FDA noting the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the potential risks.

The approval marks the first nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist proven to significantly slow chronic kidney disease progression and reduce cardiovascular risk in individuals with chronic kidney disease associated with type 2 diabetes.

Results from the APOLLO trial showed a significant 37% reduction in the risk of progression or death, compared to pomalidomide and dexamethasone alone in patients with multiple myeloma.

Education and preparedness are essential for the treatment of this inherited disorder related to the musculosketal system.

Nivolumab (Opdivo; Bristol Myers Squibb) is FDA approved for 11 cancer indications, with the most recent approval for use in combination with certain chemotherapy for the initial treatment of gastric cancer.

The FDA also granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to tezepelumab for patients with severe asthma without an eosinophilic phenotype in September 2018.

This action follows a recently completed phase 2a clinical trial, which demonstrated that 100% of the 10 enrolled patients met the study's primary and secondary efficacy endpoints of clinical cure at end of treatment as well as sustained clinical cure with no recurrence of CDI when examined on a 28-day follow-up visit.

No significant differences were found in blood pressure, blood sugar levels, or kidney function when comparing both medications among patients with type 2 diabetes.

This week on Pharmacy Times, there are a number of important topics that will be covered and posted throughout the week.

Researchers hypothesized that people may look for the UV-B type of UV light because they are unaware of their need for endorphins.

There seems to be a growing divergence of messages in the marketplace on how the pharmacy benefit is valued.

Mary Reed, DrPH, research scientist at Kaiser Permanente, discussed the changes made to health care practices in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that she would like to see remain in place in the future.

The FDA granted accelerated approval in 2019 to enfortumab vedotin-ejfv for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and a platinum-containing chemotherapy before or after surgery, or in a locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer setting.

Milind Javle, PhD, professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discussed the importance of the FDA’s expedited approval process for infigratinib in the treatment of previously treated locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Mikhail Kosiborod, MD, cardiologist and vice president of research at Saint Luke's Health in Kansas City, discussed the implications of the DARE-19 trial results assessing dapagliflozin as a treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes hospitalized with COVID-19.

The companies say COVID-19 booster shots may be necessary, although the FDA and CDC have disagreed.

Although pharmaceutical companies have already begun developing COVID-19 vaccine boosters, Michael Haydock of Informa Pharma Intelligence said boosters may not be necessary in the fall of 2021.

The data show that the maximum tolerated dose of rigosertib in combination with nivolumab was not reached in the 3 cohorts of the trial’s dose-escalation phase in patients with advanced KRAS-positive metastatic lung adenocarcinoma.

The preprint submitted by the company consists of a new analysis from blood samples obtained from a subset of participants in the phase 3 ENSEMBLE study.

In an interview with Pharmacy Times® and Directions in Oncology Pharmacy®, Abizer Gaslightwala, vice president and head of the U.S. Hematology and Oncology division at Jazz Pharmaceuticals discusses the company’s new digital resource, Nothing Small About It.

The new results add to earlier findings from the EMPEROR-Reduced phase 3 trial, which found that empagliflozin reduced the combined relative risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure by 25% compared to placebo.

A retrospective case series published in JAMA Cardiology found that although there are rare instances of myocarditis—inflammation of the heart muscle—in younger men following COVID-19 vaccination, the greater risk for heart damage and death comes from COVID-19 infection.

The investigators also found that the risk of spreading disease may be lower amongst those with breakthrough infections.

Survival for patients with glioblastoma tumors is poor, with close to 75% of patients dying within 2 years of diagnosis and 95% dying within 5 years.

Mary Reed, DrPH, research scientist at Kaiser Permanente, discussed how COVID-19 forced health systems to shift primarily to telehealth, and the impact this had on patients with diabetes.

The messages offered alternatives to these prescription drugs and offered education for providers that is designed to lead to a change in medication.