Pharmacists Key to Rapid Plozasiran Implementation at Stony Brook

In an interview with Pharmacy Times, On Chen, MD, clinical associate professor in medicine at Stony Brook Medicine, and Tahmid Rahman, MD, associate director of the Center for Advanced Lipid Management at Stony Brook Medicine, detailed the extensive logistical coordination that enabled their center to become the first to administer a commercial dose of plozasiran (Redemplo; Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals) following FDA approval. Rahman emphasized that early patient identification was foundational to rapid access. By maintaining an updated registry of patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia, the care team was able to proactively contact eligible individuals once the therapy became available.

Operational readiness also played a major role. Rahman described how clinic schedules were intentionally left flexible in anticipation of approval, allowing immediate patient visits for counseling, benefit verification, and treatment initiation. Support staff coordinated electronic prescription submission, while charge nurses and clerical teams actively followed up with pharmacies, manufacturers, and insurers to ensure authorization processes moved efficiently. This real-time monitoring minimized delays and prevented paperwork bottlenecks. Once approved, the medication was shipped directly to the patient’s home, followed by an in-clinic visit where clinicians ensured proper injection technique and administration.

Chen underscored that success was driven not by individual providers, but by robust systems and team-based workflows. Weekly multidisciplinary meetings allowed staff to review complex cases, track authorization outcomes, and troubleshoot barriers before they impacted care. Education was embedded across all levels of the clinic, ensuring clerical staff, nurses, pharmacists, and providers understood the clinical rationale, operational challenges, and response protocols for new therapies.

For pharmacists, this model highlights the importance of integrated care pathways, benefit navigation expertise, and patient education. Pharmacists were central to prescription processing, insurance coordination, medication delivery confirmation, and administration training. The interview illustrates how structured collaboration enables rapid implementation of novel therapies, ensuring patients with rare lipid disorders receive timely, effective treatment without unnecessary delays.