News

The FDA has approved new therapies for psoriasis and kidney dysfunction. The agency has also scheduled an advisory committee meeting for nonprescription birth control and accepted applications for longer-acting aripiprazole, Rett syndrome drug, and an enzyme replacement therapy. Additionally, Clovis has submits supplemental applications for Rubraca.

Long, the vice president of industry relations at IQVIA, gives his take on the lingering effects of the pandemic on the healthcare sector and pharmaceutical market.

The "end is in sight" for the COVID-19 pandemic, as the number of related deaths world-wide last week was the lowest reported since March 2020.

The harm caused by weight-loss drugs have overwhelmed any benefit they may have. The repurposed diabetes drugs like Wegovy (semaglutide) have a strong safety profile, said presented at the annual Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute meeting.

Payers need to reframe how they view obesity as not just a health and wellness issue, but as a progressive chronic disease that needs medication, explained David Skomo, RPh, chief operations officer at WellDyne.

Timothy Mizak and Nicole Bulochnik of Abarca talked about how can PBMs help payers manage costs through a hybrid network model that leverages value-based and other innovative drug contracts at the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI) annual meeting in Orlando.

Executives at Arrive Health and OptumRx say they have ironed out many of the problems with real-time benefit checks, which delivers out-of-pocket cost and prior approval information at the time a prescription is being written.

Jeffrey A. Shaman, Ph.D., chief science officer at Coriell Life Sciences, talked about how pharmacogenomics can inform medication management.

Nicole Bulochnik, Vice President of Drug Pricing and Network Strategy at Abarca Health delivers her presentation, "PBM-Payer Partnerships: Insight into Alternative Cost Management Strategies Across Common PBM Levels," during this year's PBMI National Annual Conference in Orlando, FL.

Thus far, value-based contracts for prescription drugs has not been transformative because of the scalability challenge for payers, explained Gregory Warren, FSA, FCA, MAAA, partner and consulting actuary with Axene Health Partners.

Greg Warren, partner and consulting actuary at Axene Health Partners, discussed the many solutions that have been put forth to address the prescription drug challenges that could bring value to healthcare.

Cate Lockhart, MS, PharmD, PhD, Executive Director at the Biologics and Biosimilars Collective Intelligence Consortium covers her presentation "New mAbs on the Block: A Rocking Research Update on Biosimilar Uptake and Benefit Design" which she delivered at this year's PBMI national conference.

Kali Panagos, Pharm.D., of ARMSRx discussed ways that pharmacy benefit managers are coping with specialty drug spending.

Some of the evidence for digital therapeutic suffers from selection bias and relatively short studies, panelists at the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute said today. They also discussed making the flood of data from the digital therapeutics accessible and useful to payers and clinicians.

Michael Agostino, RPh, a registered pharmacist and entrepreneur of Onesto One Advisors, LLC, addressed how his career has been spent over the last few decades during his presentation Sept. 12 at this year's PBMI Annual National Conference in Orlando.

Doug Long, vice president, industry relations IQVIA, talk about the growth of the specialty medication market and the impact of biosimilars that are expected to be introduced next year.

Brandon Newman, an industry veteran, also listed the specialty drug spend, collaboration and real-time optimization as the pharmacy benefit management trends to watch.

A Texas judge ruled that coverage for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) violates religious freedom but there is concern that cancer screenings and other preventive services could be affected.

In COVID-19 news, the FDA indicated Eiger’s treatment not supported by data. An advisory committee switched its vote to yes for new ALS drug. The FDA approved Stimufend, a biosimilar to Neulasta, as well as Imfinzi for biliary tract cancer, a longer-lasting treatment for frown lines, an oral suspension for gastric ulcers, and generics of Revlimid. The agency accepted applications for novel dry eye disease and alopecia therapies. Additionally, Seres completed rolling BLA for microbiome therapeutic.

In a second committee meeting, FDA advisors supported approval of AMX0035 after the company presented additional analysis of phase 2 data of AMX0035 to treat patients with ALS. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date is Sept. 29, 2022.

Risk adjustment is a central feature of value-based care, but it can be abused. Natural language processing can make the process efficient and steer it clear of fraud and other problems.

A national study in Germany identified the baseline characteristics of patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) to understand how they are usually treated with Dupixent in the real world.

In COVID-19 news, the FDA authorized updated boosters. The agency also approved several new therapies, including Xenpozyme for a rare genetic disorder, and Pemazyre for myeloid/lymphoid neoplasms, Spevigo for rare type of psoriasis flare. The FDA also expanded Imbruvica’s indication for young children with GVHD and granted priority review for weekly hemophilia A therapy.

Therapeutic goals of reducing eosinophil counts below a certain level in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) has a marginal benefit for the impact on quality of life and treatment burden.

In this week's episode, MHE Editor Briana Contreras and Managing Editor Peter Wehrwein met with CIO of Prime Therapeutics, Jim Graham to discuss the process of an organization’s digital transformation from a traditional Pharmacy Benefit Manager to a complete data-driven drug management system. Graham addressed the risks an organization may come across to successfully transition to this system, but also mentioned the benefits to come.

CIO of Prime Therapeutics, Jim Graham, discusses with MHE how to successfully reach digital transformation in healthcare from a traditional PBM.

Telemedicine has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but what actions are needed for more patients to have equitable, fair access to genetics services via telegenetics?

This year, health plans need to focus on the following smart, “no regret” investments in the enrollment process that have low risk, high reward, and ultimately deliver an exceptional member experience while simultaneously reducing costs and improving data quality.