Mon.Apr 01, 2024

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Pharmacy Membership Model May Result in Better Patient Care, Financial Feasibility

Drug Topics

In comparison with the traditional volume-based pharmacy model, the membership model decreases financial barriers while increasing customer-pharmacist relationships.

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H5N1 avian flu found in Texas individual who apparently was infected by dairy cows

STAT

Texas health officials reported Monday that an individual who had been in contact with cattle has contracted H5N1 avian flu, only the second case ever recorded in the U.S. The person had contact with dairy cattle that are believed to have been infected with the virus, the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement. It went on to say that the individual’s only symptom is eye inflammation — infection of the conjunctiva, the tissue surrounding the eye.

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Pharmacists Should Adapt Harm Reduction Efforts to Address Unregulated Substances

Drug Topics

It’s important that pharmacists continuously revise their counseling as new information about substances such as xylazine, levamisole, and phenacetin emerges, said Anita Jacobson at this year’s American Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting & Exposition.

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New HHS guidance requires consent for pelvic, breast, and other sensitive examinations

STAT

Hospitals performing pelvic and other sensitive exams for training purposes without patients’ explicit consent, including on anesthetized patients, won’t be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, according to new guidance released on Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

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Position Your Pharmacy for Expansion

Speaker: Chris Antypas and Josh Halladay

Access to limited distribution drugs and payer contracts are key to pharmacy expansion. But how do you prepare your operations to take the next step? Meaningful data: Collect and share clinical data regarding outcomes, utilization, and more Reporting: Limited distribution models require efficient tracking and reporting systems Workflows: Align workflows with specific pharma and payer contractual requirements For in-depth, expert insights on pharmacy expansion, watch this webinar from Inovalon.

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Exploring the Role of Pharmacists as Facilitators of Harm Reduction Resources

Drug Topics

According to Anita Jacobson, pharmacists should actively facilitate access to harm reduction programs by providing information and resources, ensuring the person who uses drugs doesn’t have to navigate the landscape on their own.

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Opinion: Banning teens from social media won’t help their mental health. Here’s what might

STAT

Since the U.S. surgeon general’s 2023 advisory on social media and teen mental health, public concern has skyrocketed around adolescents’ digital lives. Major news organizations and even state governments have pinned social media apps as addictive , dangerous, and the cause of the youth mental health crisis. In turn, calls to ban teens from social media apps have started to emerge, with mixed reception from policymakers nationwide.

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STAT+: Biden administration sticks with slight cuts to 2025 Medicare Advantage payments

STAT

Over the past few weeks, Medicare Advantage insurers demanded that the Biden administration give them higher payment rates for next year. The government’s data on how much people were using health care didn’t match their own data, insurers and lobbyists griped — and therefore they wouldn’t be paid enough to cover those costs.

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Study: Tirzepatide Results in Weight Loss for Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes

Pharmacy Times

Tirzepatide is currently approved for management of type 2 diabetes, improving glucose control, facilitating weight loss, and improving cardiovascular disease outcomes.

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STAT+: Otsuka’s digital treatment for depression cleared by FDA, as pharma tries to crack tricky market

STAT

The Food and Drug Administration has cleared Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s digital treatment for major depressive disorder, offering a new option for millions of people who struggle with the stubborn mental health condition. Called Rejoyn , the smartphone-based treatment for major depressive disorder symptoms, developed with digital health company Click Therapeutics, is intended for use by prescription alongside antidepressants.

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Study: Anxiety, Depression Treatment Linked With Heart Disease Outcomes

Pharmacy Times

Investigators aimed to determine the impact of psychotherapy or psychopharmacologic treatments on adverse outcomes in individuals with coronary artery disease or heart failure.

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What the FDA's New Dosage Guidance Means for the Future of Clinical Research

Speaker: Dr. Ben Locwin - Biopharmaceutical Executive & Healthcare Futurist

What will the future hold for clinical research? A recent draft from the FDA provides valuable insight. In "Optimizing the Dosage of Human Prescription Drugs and Biological Products for the Treatment of Oncologic Diseases," the FDA notes that "targeted therapies demonstrate different dose-response relationships compared to cytotoxic chemotherapy, such that doses below the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) may have similar efficacy to the MTD but with fewer toxicities.

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STAT+: Critics say U.K. decision on ALS drug could have ‘chilling effect’ on access to new genetic medicines

STAT

LONDON — Neurologists and patient advocates are up in arms over a policy decision by a U.K. health agency that they say will imperil access to an ALS treatment that’s available in the U.S. and on its way to approval in the European Union. The medicine in question, Biogen’s tofersen, is designed to treat a rare genetic form of the neurodegenerative disease, accounting for some 2% of all ALS cases.

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Behavioral Interventions Give Hope for Management of Insomnia Beyond the Sleep Specialist’s Office

Pharmacy Times

Stephanie Ashraf, MD, offered clinical experience in managing insomnia at the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) 2024 Annual Meeting.

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STAT+: Scientists uncover potential path to treating deadly childhood tumor

STAT

Most targeted cancer drugs work like tranquilizer darts, snaring an overzealous gene that has spurred the cell into murderously rapid growth. But many tumors don’t have a hyperactive gene. Like the mayhem in “Cat in the Hat,” they are enabled by parental absence. They grow because the genes that are meant to provide discipline, guiding the activity of other genes or self-destructing a cell whose DNA is too damaged, are broken or missing.

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European prosecutors take over investigation into deal for Pfizer COVID vaccines: Politico

Fierce Pharma

While the market for COVID-19 vaccines has been shrinking lately, an investigation into text messages between Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen r | The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) took over the investigation into COVID vaccine negotiations between the European Commission's president and Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla, Politico reports.

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5 Reasons to Upgrade Your Pharmacy Management Software

Are you still using workarounds to manage your daily operations? To achieve peak performance, it's time to explore other options for specialty and infusion pharmacy software. Streamline pharmacy operations and improve clinical performance with automated processing, real-time data exchange, and electronic decision support. Download this helpful infographic to: Drive efficiency and patient adherence from referral receipt to delivery and ongoing care – all with our Pharmacy Cloud.

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Register Today: April 2024 Total Pharmacy Solutions Summit

Drug Topics

The can’t-miss event on April 13 features speakers and CE sessions focused on elevating patient-centric care.

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Men With Melanoma Who Receive Enhanced Vaccine Experience Improvements in Overall Survival

Pharmacy Times

It is unclear why the vaccines were less effective in women, but researchers note that the findings can be important when determining immune therapy outcomes in patients with melanoma.

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STAT+: Net prices for medicines fell considerably in 2023’s last quarter, mostly thanks to Humira biosimilars

STAT

The net prices that health plans paid for medicines — after subtracting rebates, discounts, and fees — fell by 2.8% in last year’s fourth quarter, the largest decline ever measured by SSR Health, a research firm that tracks the pharmaceutical industry and its pricing trends. A key reason for the big drop — which dwarfed the 0.4% decline seen at the same time a year earlier — was pricing pressure on the Humira treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.

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Community Pharmacists Can Help Monitor, Manage Cardiometabolic Parameters in Schizophrenia

Pharmacy Times

Health care professionals providing care to patients using second-generation antipsychotics could benefit from incorporating community pharmacists as members of their team.

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AstraZeneca CEO's 2024 pay proposal under fire from influential proxy advisers

Fierce Pharma

Like clockwork, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot’s pay is under fire again. | Like clockwork, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot’s pay is under fire again. The two most influential proxy advisory firms are rallying investors to vote against the 2024 pay proposal for Soriot at the company’s annual general meeting this month.

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STAT+: UnitedHealth’s surprising new target: Struggling Steward’s physician group

STAT

UnitedHealth Group has gobbled up physician practices at an astounding rate — roughly 20,000 last year alone. Most of them share a common trait: They’re independent groups, not affiliated with hospital chains. The Minnesota conglomerate’s plan to roll Stewardship Health, the physician arm of for-profit Steward Health Care, into its Optum subsidiary would mark a noteworthy departure from its usual fare.

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Teva snares up to $150M in Abingworth funding to propel late-stage asthma rescue inhaler

Fierce Pharma

Shortly after Gilead Sciences teamed up with Carlyle’s Abingworth to fuel further research on its antibody-drug conjugate Trodelvy, Teva is following a similar pathway with an asthma resc | Shortly after Gilead Sciences teamed up with Carlyle’s Abingworth to fuel further research on its antibody-drug conjugate Trodelvy, Teva is following a similar pathway for an asthma rescue inhaler.

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FDA Approves Danicopan With C5 Inhibitor Therapy to Treat EVH in Adults With Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria

Pharmacy Times

Positive phase 3 trial results showed that danicopan was more effective than placebo when treating extravascular hemolysis in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

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Why a bill meant to stop surprise medical bills hasn’t worked

STAT

You’re reading the web version of Health Care Inc.,  STAT’s weekly newsletter  following the flow of money in medicine.  Sign up  to get it in your inbox every Monday.  Optum scooping up more docs during Change outage Just when you thought things couldn’t get weirder, UnitedHealth Group plans to buy Steward Health Care’s physician practice.

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Jury finds Henry Ford Health 'unnecessarily delayed' C-section, awards $120M damages

Fierce Healthcare

A Michigan jury has found Detroit-based Henry Ford Health and some of its practitioners to be negligent in a case involving a delayed caesarean section and resulting severe disability. | A C-section was not performed for over two hours after being ordered, leading to the child's asphyxiation and severe, lifelong disability, the plaintiffs argued.

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FDA clears first DTx for depression from Otsuka, Click

pharmaphorum

Otsuka and Click Therapeutics’ Rejoyn has become the first prescription digital therapeutic (DTx) to be approved by the FDA for people with major depressive disorder

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With a rise in animal-human organ transplants, a drugmaker aims for a new standard of care

PharmaVoice

Eledon Therapeutics is developing a drug that could facilitate organ transplants from animals to humans as the procedure gains steam.

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Do allergies cause sore throat?

The Checkup by Singlecare

Sore throat is a classic symptom of viral infections, such as the common cold and flu. These types of sore throats typically clear up on their own. However, sore throat is also common in bacterial infections, like strep throat However, sore throats caused by bacterial infections may require antibiotics to prevent the bacteria from spreading, notes the Mayo Clinic.

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To advance women’s leadership, an effort ‘has to be purposeful,’ says EMD Serono exec

PharmaVoice

Gender diversity in leadership “doesn’t just happen,” — it requires institutional change, from investing in women’s startups to providing more generous family leave.

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Eisai, Biogen's injectable Leqembi delayed as FDA asks for more data

Fierce Pharma

What analysts viewed as a potential “inflection point” for Eisai and Biogen’s slow-footed Leqembi is facing a delay with the FDA. | What analysts viewed as a potential “inflection point” for Eisai and Biogen’s slow-footed Leqembi is facing a delay with the FDA.

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Merck gets grant for patent granted for tricyclic heterocycle compounds for treating HIV

Pharmaceutical Technology

Discover the groundbreaking patent by Merck & Co Inc for Tricyclic Heterocycle Compounds to combat HIV infection. Learn about the innovative formula and treatment methods for a potent solution in antiretroviral therapy.

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AstraZeneca's rare disease add-on therapy Voydeya scores FDA nod

Fierce Pharma

With AstraZeneca’s dominance in the rare blood disease paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) threatened by the recent approval of the first pill on the market for the condition, Novartis’ Fabha | With AstraZeneca’s dominance in the rare blood disease paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) threatened by the recent approval of the first pill on the market for the condition, Novartis’ Fabhalta, AstraZeneca has answered in the United States for its add-on oral treatment in the indication.

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Key Takeaways Regarding Operationalizing Bispecific Antibodies for MM

Pharmacy Times

Panelists summarize key takeaways on using bispecific antibodies for multiple myeloma treatment.

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Aardvark Therapeutics gearing up for $200 million IPO

STAT

Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today?  Sign up  to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Hey there. Today, we learn about how scientists had a happenstance discovery about tumor-suppressor genes and used them to target aggressive pediatric tumor cells. We see a U.K. health agency make a controversial call about an ALS drug made by Biogen, and more.

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ONC releases 5-year federal health IT roadmap, focusing on health equity, AI

Fierce Healthcare

Federal health IT officials unveiled a draft strategic plan outlining health technology priorities over the next five years focusing on health equity and artificial intelligence. | Federal health IT officials unveiled a draft strategic plan outlining health technology priorities over the next five years focusing on health equity and artificial intelligence.

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