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..survey of the Chinese pharmaceutical market based on an opinion poll conducted with domestic and foreign suppliers attending CPhI’s annual China expo in Shanghai…Despite some structural concerns in the context of slowing macro-economic growth overall, the report offers a very positive outlook…China is the world’s largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Its massive pharmaceutical market is projected to be worth $158 billion worldwide in 2016, while domestic sales alone will account for $63 billion…China sales will double over the next five years.

physicians, pharmacists and researchers have been frustrated for decades at patients’ inability to…remain on their medication regimens…a round of experiments funded by the Affordable Care Act…offer hope of progress against one of medicine’s most intractable problems….

1. One project applies behavioral economics to the problem. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania gave 1,000 people "electronic pill bottles" when they left the hospital after heart attacks. If they forgot to take their medicine, the cap would light up and beep… If they took their medications,…they became eligible to win small lotteries that offer…prizes.
2. In Hawaii, another project, the $14.3 million "Pharm2Pharm" experiment, seeks to connect doctors and pharmacists who dispense medication to patients leaving hospitals with community pharmacists…Community pharmacists often complain that they have no idea which medications their patients are taking, especially when they leave hospitals with new ones and can’t guard against dangerous interactions.
3. In Wisconsin, more than 25 percent of the state’s pharmacists took a 12-hour training course, then sought out 100,000 people who appeared to be failing to refill their prescriptions…based on data provided by insurers under a $4.1 million project run by the state’s Pharmacy Society. Most were poor or elderly…Cost is a factor, convenience is a factor,..Lack of recognition of importance or need, health literacy and understanding" all contribute to non-adherence,…

Pay-Per-Click advertising sites, primarily search engines, are largely unaware of the new regulations governing 503B Outsourcing Facilities. Pay-per-click advertising has been one of the main ways non-compliant compounding pharmacies have been able to sell their products and services to hospitals, physicians and patients. Outsourcing Facilities of America is working to educate PPC advertising companies on the regulatory requirements… create new policies and procedures to stop non-compliant compounding pharmacies from selling their products in violation of these regulations.

Hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass may have hit some recent speed bumps in his quest to challenge pharma patents through a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office review system. But he's not giving up… not to be deterred, refiled the two Ampyra challenges…with more documentation, and he filed two new challenges against the drug's other IP shields, too… Bass has been using the inter partes review system to wage war on patents from companies such as Celgene, Shire, Biogen and Acorda that he thinks aren't up to snuff,...Bass and his partners want "to line their own pockets at the expense of public pharmaceutical companies and their shareholders,"…

The price of…health plans sold through Maryland’s insurance exchange will jump, on average, by about one quarter next year, fueling questions about whether coverage under the Affordable Care Act will remain affordable in the state…26 percent average increase in monthly premiums are for CareFirst plans, which cover three-fourths of the state residents who have bought insurance under the federal health-care law. The price jump,…is among rate changes that the state’s insurance regulators have approved for plans sold to individual families and small businesses.

Novartis plans the first human tests next year of a "smart" contact lens it is developing with Google designed to help restore the eye's natural autofocus….it would take about five years to see a product on the market,…we are already developing a technological lens prototype (that) should be tested on humans in 2016…for accommodative vision correction in people with presbyopia, or age-related long sightedness, who can no longer read without glasses… Novartis is also developing smart contact lenses to help diabetics track their blood glucose levels.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, Inter Partes Review exemptions currently being sought by the pharmaceutical industry could cost Medicare $1.3 billion over the next decade… IPR system is used as an alternative way for generic companies to challenge patents, as opposed to using the federal court system. IPR challenges are generally decided within 15 to 18 months… IPR is a quicker process…On one side in this fight are major industry trade groups… On the other side: IPR advocates, including the health insurance industry…

PharmTalk is a special production from the University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy that features Keith and Kevin Boesen.

Why do college students decide to pursue a career in pharmacy? The reasons are more varied than you might think!

Biologic therapy targets genetic defects found in various cancers… FDA granted Orphan Drug Designation to MTG-201 (MTG Biotherapeutics Inc.) for the treatment malignant mesothelioma…drug targets the Dickkopf-3 genetic defect found in various cancers…There is a…need for new treatment options for…mesothelioma…one of the most aggressive and poorly treated cancers. MTG-201 represents a…novel approach to treating this cancer by selectively inducing apoptosis and inducing an immunologic response against the cancer..

It's no secret that pharma salespeople are barred at the doors of many doctors' offices. Those doors have been closing one by one for several years…barriers are rising at a bad time for drugmakers intent on launching new products to make up for patent-cliff losses. Just as doors are closing, there's been a renaissance in drug approvals, with the FDA blessing record numbers of meds in the past few years…pharma marketers have adopted workarounds--such as digital detailing--face-to-face meetings are still the cornerstone of new drug launches.