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Despite digital health's record breaking…growth last year – more recent reports showing it hasn't slowed down…more than half of all digital health startups are likely to fail..those fledgling companies that raked in a record $4.1 billion for 2014. Rather than discard the investment…in getting sputtering start-ups off the ground, it often makes sense for healthcare stakeholders to acquire them, salvage their best people and technologies…Many digital start-ups that are dying or in danger of failure have developed solutions that can help traditional and non-traditional healthcare companies achieve their goals..

Jessica Kerr, PharmD, CDE, and assistant department chair at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville discusses counseling points for patients taking oral non-insulin diabetes medication (video)

Russia’s largest retail pharmacy chains improves profits by tapping into their big data with price optimization… -- Revionics, Inc.,a provider of optimization solutions, and distribution partner SmartService Ltd, announced…that they have entered into a multi-year agreement…with A5 Pharmacy Ltd., one of Russia’s largest pharmacy retail chains, which operates more than 700 retail locations throughout Russia.

More than 100 plants in…Islamabad, and in…the Punjab province are downing tools in response to amendments by the regional government to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan Act,… proposed changes would do away with the Out of Specification production category, which is used by international regulators for batches that do not meet pharmacopeial specifications. Instead.. new rules would mark all failed products with the…term "Spurious", a classification that..encompasses unregistered and counterfeit medicines, and products containing no active pharmaceutical ingredient…

Big data and pharmaceutical tracking and authentication company TruMedicines… launched a 40-day Kickstarter campaign for a smartphone app that promotes medication safety…app will help stymy issues responsible for over a million deaths every year and billions of dollars in additional healthcare costs — counterfeit medication and adherence…inability to figure out whether a drug is legitimate or not was a problem that needed fixing...

Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy recently released its 2014 annual report on investigations and disciplinary actions against retail chain, independent community, and compounding pharmacies...regulators reported a "noticeable field presence" with an increase in investigative staff and greater interest in keeping tabs on sterile compounding pharmacies.

Concordia Pharmaceuticals Inc and Par Pharmaceutical Inc have settled charges they unlawfully agreed not to compete in the sale of a generic version of Kapvay (clonidine), a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,…Federal Trade Commission…alleged Concordia,…had agreed not to sell…drug in exchange for a share of Par's revenues…. settlement bars them from enforcing anticompetitive provisions of their agreement, including the profit-sharing provision..

A telehealth program that engages patients before and after their hip and knee replacement procedures not only made those patients feel better about the experience and their providers, but reduced length of stay and improved post-discharge responses… VOX Telehealth… attribute… improvement to the fact that patients are more prepared for the process, so there are fewer complications or concerns that would merit a longer stay of(or) transfer to another facility...

Danish drugmaker, Lundbeck has announced plans to slash 1,000 jobs as part of a massive restructuring…to save 3bn Danish Krone ($444m) in costs…and cutting early pipelines ..unnamed early-stage drug programs, and focus on existing products Abilify Maintena, (aripiprazole), Brintellix (vortioxetine), Northera (droxidopa), Onfi (clobazam), and Rexulti (brexpiprazole)… also plans to expand its new business service center in Krakow,Poland…restructure operations at its headquarters in Valby, Denmark

Amgen Inc has reached a $71 million settlement ...to resolve claims that the biotechnology company promoted its popular Enbrel and Aranesp drugs for uses not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration… Amgen violated state consumer protection laws by marketing both drugs for off-label uses, through its promotion of Enbrel to treat mild plaque psoriasis and Aranesp to treat anemia caused by cancer.