May 3 Pharmacy Week in Review: Health Care Providers Urged to Encourage Parents to Vaccinate Their Children, Study Demonstrates Safety of Oral Immunotherapy for Peanut Allergy

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Nicole Grassano, Host: Hello and welcome to the Pharmacy Times News Network. I’m Nicole Grassano your host for our Pharmacy Week in Review.

The FDA has approved AbbVie’s Mavyret tablet to treat all 6 genotypes of hepatitis C virus in children 12 to 17, Pharmacy Times reported.

This drug was previously approved in 2017, to treat HCV in adults. It is now indicated for children and adults 12 and older or weighing at least 99 pounds who are infected with any of 6 identified HCV genotypes, either without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis. The efficacy and safety of the drug in pediatric patients was evaluated during clinical trials of 47 patients with genotype 1, 2, 3 or 4 HCV infection without cirrhosis or with mild cirrhosis.

Results of the trials showed that 100% of patients who received the combination tablet for 8 or 16 weeks had no virus detected in the blood 12 weeks after finishing treatment, suggesting that patients’ infections had been cured.

CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, MD, is urging health care providers to encourage parents, and expectant parents to vaccinate their children, Contemporary Clinic reported.

According to Redfield, 94% of parents vaccinate their children to protect against measles and other preventable diseases. He said the CDC is working to reach vaccine-hesitant individuals with the message that immunization is critical. In his statement, Redfield indicated that about 1.3%, or 100,000 children, in this country under age 2 have not been vaccinated, making them vulnerable to the current measles outbreak.

The message was issued in a statement during National Infant Immunization Week. The CDC is recognizing that week as part of the World Immunization Week, an effort of the World Health Organization. The weeks continue through May 4.

A new study is the first to demonstrate the safety of an oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy among a large group of preschool-aged children as a routine treatment in a hospital or clinical setting instead of a clinical trial, Specialty Pharmacy Times reported.

In the study, researchers studied 270 children between 9 months and 5 years who were diagnosed with a peanut allergy and were administered an oral immunotherapy between April 2017 and November 2018. The children were administered a peanut dose about every 2 weeks by a pediatric allergist, with the dose gradually increased during each visit to a community or hospital clinic.

The study found that 68% of the children experienced at least 1 allergic reaction prior to reaching the maintenance stage, the majority of which were deemed mild. The researchers think that the data demonstrated the efficiency and safety of immunotherapy for preschool-age children.

Pharmacists may get more questions about Trulicity, if patients have seen a recent commercial for the prescription medication.

In the spot, called “Power,” the narrator explains that Trulicity is not insulin, and taken once-weekly, it may lower blood sugar. According to the commercial, Trulicity is designed to help those with Type 2 Diabetes produce their own insulin.

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Thanks for watching our Pharmacy Week in Review. I’m Nicole Grassano at the Pharmacy Times News Network.