Specialty Pharmacy

A survey of physicians who prescribe specialty medications released by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association found that they were skeptical that all traditional pharmacies were capable of dispensing specialty medications.

Spending on specialty medications is expected to increase 30% by 2017, a report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics predicts.

Specialty pharmacy presents itself as both a challenging business model and a significant financial opportunity under the right circumstances, especially for health systems.

Despite lower costs for inpatient and outpatient appointments and surgery for patients receiving infliximab therapy, the costs to administer the therapy make it more expensive than adalimumab therapy.

Drs. Jasielec and Jakubowiak review the state of the art in selecting an optimal induction therapy regimen for patients with multiple myeloma.

A CVS Caremark report predicts further increases in specialty drug spending but suggests strategies for payers to manage costs.

Infliximab therapy has the potential to induce remission in pediatric Crohn's disease patients, but loss of response to the therapy remains a concern.

Combination therapy in patients with psoriatic arthritis has a lower discontinuation rate than that of patients on monotherapy, but comes with a higher price tag.

An HIV-infected baby treated aggressively with antiretroviral therapy starting shortly after birth remains virus-free at the age of 3 years despite having ceased treatment at the age of 18 months.

Steven Lucio of Novation discusses how Teva's Granix (tbo-filgrastim), which was filed through a 351(a) pathway, was approved for only 1 indication--and it was not the indication considered to be the "most definitive" for that particular product.

Aimee Tharaldson of Express Scripts explains why some hepatitis C patients who do not have signs of active disease may want to wait to receive treatment until later this year and early next year, when the FDA is expected to approve sofosbuvir and simeprevir for the treatment of this condition.

The risks and benefits associated with the use of natalizumab must be carefully considered.

Use of tumor necrosis factor–alpha inhibitors was recently linked to the reactivation of ancillary neurologic adverse events.

It is important to measure speed-to-therapy for specialty drugs to evaluate how much time it takes manufacturers, physicians, insurance companies, hubs, and specialty pharmacies to get essential medications to patients.

Manufacturing patents will play a larger role than molecule patents within the biologics development process, and these will also be a factor in terms of bringing complex products to market, argued Steven Lucio, senior director, Clinical Solutions and Pharmacy Program Development at Novation.

Dr. Morrow spoke on a panel last month with other representatives from Pharma at the Therigy Specialty Pharmacy Congress in Orlando, Florida. Here are some of the most notable comments he contributed to the discussion surrounding pharmaceutical manufacturers' outlook on specialty pharmacy.

Last year there were 11 new cancer drugs approved, and so far this year, 6 oncology medications have been approved, notes Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, senior clinical consultant, Emerging Therapeutics, Express Scripts.

The process of adding biosimilars to formularies will be much more rigorous than what the industry is accustomed to seeing in the generic molecule space, asserted Steven Lucio, senior director, Clinical Solutions and Pharmacy Program Development at Novation.

The FDA approved Imbruvica (ibrutinib) to treat patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), a rare and aggressive type of blood cancer.

We will see a new wave of oral antiviral hepatitis C medicines hitting the market towards the end of this year and the beginning of next year, noted Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, senior clinical consultant, Emerging Therapeutics, Express Scripts.

Specialty Pharmacy Times spoke to Peter Wickersham, senior vice president, cost of care at Prime Therapeutics, to help us highlight the key points of the 2013 Specialty Drug Trend Insights report and its implications for the future of specialty spending.

Chronic myeloid leukemia patients likely have comorbid conditions at the time of their diagnosis; however, most tyrosine-kinase inhibitor studies exclude patients with these conditions.

The changing health care environment and the integration of specialty pharmacies into health systems were the biggest themes during one of the liveliest panels at the Therigy conference last month in Orlando, Florida.

Steven Lucio of Novation discusses why now is the time for pharmacists to educate themselves about biosimilars and the complexities surrounding biologic manufacturing.

Cultivating a career in specialty pharmacy has never been more exciting.