Expert Interviews

Joe DePinto from McKesson discussed the challenges facing cell and gene therapies, particularly around reimbursement, and highlighted successful strategies to speed up access. He also shared optimism for the future, with many products already achieving blockbuster status and more expected by 2030.

Joe DePinto, MBA, head of cell, gene and advanced therapies at McKesson , met with MHE at the annual Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas this week to give some insight on where we are with cell and gene therapies, as well as looking at Pfizer's discontinued hemophilia B gene therapy, Beqvez (fidanacogene elaparvovec-dzkt).

A future where healthcare may include augmented reality, robots and drones may be more fact than fiction, says George Van Antwerp, SVP of product innovation and strategic planning at Prime Therapeutics.

As healthcare AI evolves, there will be a greater emphasis on streamlining administrative tasks, drug production and service delivery, according to George Van Antwerp, SVP of product innovation and strategic planning at Prime Therapeutics.

Shawn Griffin, M.D., president and CEO of URAC, shared his insights into best practices for promoting health equity during the annual Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas today.

At this year’s Asembia conference in Las Vegas, Shawn Griffin, M.D., president and CEO of URAC, spoke about the need for strong leadership and community-based data in specialty pharmacies to identify and address health disparities, which will then improve care for all patients.

The vice president and lead of IQVIA's Market Access Center of Excellence says fewer drugs are hitting the $100 million mark during their first year on the market than in the past.

The vice president and market lead of IQVIA's Market Center of Excellence gives some insight intot the title of his talk today at Asembia meeting.

McElya, senior director, clinical pharmacy at Walgreens, notes that approximately half of the drugs approved by the FDA last year were first-in-class drugs.

Experts at City of Hope, Simon Nazarian and Nasim Eftekhari, discussed the transformative potential of AI in cancer care.

A panelist discusses how preserving beta-cell function in type 1 diabetes (T1D) requires a multifaceted approach combining timely diagnosis, immunomodulatory therapies, optimal glycemic control and emerging technologies that can slow disease progression and improve patient outcomes.

In a recent conversation with Managed Healthcare Executive, Geoffrey Rutledge, M.D., of HealthTap, warned that the narrative around GLP-1 drugs is often oversimplified—and potentially harmful.

Panelists discuss how ruxolitinib offers significant advantages in atopic dermatitis management through its targeted JAK inhibition mechanism, demonstrating rapid and sustained improvement in itch and lesions, effectiveness across various disease severities and body regions, favorable safety profile compared to systemic alternatives, and potential for reduced healthcare resource utilization over extended treatment periods.

Panelists discuss how, as new data on cemiplimab and other checkpoint inhibitors emerge, the treatment pathway for cancers like non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is expected to evolve toward more personalized, targeted approaches. This will enhance survival outcomes, refine patient selection and optimize therapy regimens.

A panelist discusses how type 1 diabetes (T1D) is frequently misdiagnosed in adults due to its overlapping clinical features with type 2 diabetes (T2D), resulting in inappropriate treatment strategies that fail to address the autoimmune destruction of beta cells and lead to accelerated disease progression and complications.

Panelists discuss how, cemiplimab, a PD-1 inhibitor, has shown promise as a second-line therapy for advanced NSCLC after progression on prior treatments. Continuing cemiplimab post-progression can enhance survival outcomes by maintaining immune system activation against cancer cells.

The difference between specialty drugs and traditional drugs and how each have vied for market competition, according to Jeff Casberg, MS, RPh, senior vice president of clinical pharmacy services at IPD Analytics.

In this first part of a two-part video series, Jennifer Haley, principal research associate of the Health Policy Division at the Urban Institute, spoke with MHE about the impact the proposed Medicaid work requirements could have on millions and research that supports this belief.

Panelists discuss how an 18-month retrospective claims analysis evaluated ruxolitinib's real-world effectiveness in atopic dermatitis, demonstrating sustained disease control, reduced healthcare utilization, decreased steroid dependency, improved medication adherence, and consistent safety outcomes across diverse patient demographics and disease severities compared to conventional treatments.

Panelists discuss how balancing survival benefits with quality of life involves careful monitoring of treatment-related adverse effects. Managing immune-related adverse events in patients on immune checkpoint inhibitors like cemiplimab requires early detection, timely intervention and proactive strategies to minimize impact on outcomes.

Panelists discuss how subgroup analyses of the EMPOWER-Lung 1 study assessed the efficacy of pembrolizumab across various patient groups, including those with different PD-L1 expression levels, tumor histology and prior therapies. Results demonstrated consistent survival benefits, highlighting pembrolizumab’s broad clinical applicability in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

A panelist discusses how autoimmune screening through detection of diabetes-specific autoantibodies serves as a critical tool for identifying pre-symptomatic type 1 diabetes (T1D), enabling earlier intervention before significant beta cell loss occurs and potentially changing the disease trajectory through timely management strategies.

In this second part of a video series, Shawn Kwatra, M.D., professor and chair of dermatology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, described a common scenario where patients with severe atopic dermatitis must first try and fail multiple topical treatments, all while having widespread symptoms, before insurers will approve systemic therapies.

Current observations and foresight into the world of biosimilars, GLP-1s, PBM and payer trends, according to Jeff Casberg, MS, RPh, senior vice president of clinical pharmacy services at IPD Analytics, and Doug Long, MBA, vice president of industry relations at IQVIA.

Eric Cannon, PharmD, FAMCP, discusses how precision medicine advancements and biomarker development can enable targeted idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) therapies by identifying patient subgroups most likely to benefit from specific interventions. Artificial intelligence (AI) integration offers potential for earlier diagnosis, improved prognostication and personalized treatment optimization through data pattern recognition.

An expert discusses the existing gaps in atopic dermatitis (AD) management, promising areas of research to address unmet needs, and key takeaways from the discussion for the managed care audience regarding AD management.