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New system could free bench chemists from time-consuming tasks, may help inspire new molecules...Guided by artificial intelligence and powered by a robotic platform, a system developed by MIT researchers moves a step closer to automating the production of small molecules that could be used in medicine, solar energy, and polymer chemistry…The researchers tested the full system by creating 15 different medicinal small molecules of different synthesis complexity, with processes taking anywhere between two hours for the simplest creations to about 68 hours for manufacturing multiple compounds…The team synthesized a variety of compounds: aspirin and the antibiotic secnidazole in back-to-back processes; the painkiller lidocaine and the antianxiety drug diazepam in back-to-back processes using a common feedstock of reagents; the blood thinner warfarin and the Parkinson’s disease drug safinamide, to show how the software could design compounds with similar molecular components but differing 3-D structures; and a family of five ACE inhibitor drugs and a family of four nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs...READ MORE

Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

The Trump administration released a final rule...that boosts Medicare payments to rural hospitals in a bid to address major inequalities...The rules included an increase to the wage index for certain low-wage hospitals such as those in rural areas..."The changes we’re finalizing in today’s rule are long overdue and improve the way Medicare pays hospitals, which will help many rural hospitals maintain their healthcare labor force," CMS Administrator Seema Verma...READ MORE

Surescripts is upping its battle with Amazon-owned PillPack, accusing a third company of providing PillPack with patient prescription information “fraudulently,” and turning the matter over to the FBI. It’s the latest in a series of moves that could make it harder for Amazon to enter the prescription drug market...PillPack found a way to access its patients’ prescription information via a third-party called ReMy Health...Surescripts, which contracts with ReMy, said this represents “unauthorized access” to its network...READ MORE

Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

In another sign of growing impatience with the high cost of prescription drugs, bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House that would limit pharmaceutical companies’ ability to delay the entry of generic drugs into the market...The Terminating the Extension of Rights Misappropriated Act targets the practice of “evergreening,” in which pharmaceutical companies make minor changes to a drug and file a new patent on those miniscule modifications in order to extend their exclusivity and maintain high prices...READ MORE

Canada’s main pharmaceutical (IMC) lobby group has urged the government not to wait for drug shortages before responding to U.S. plans to import Canadian drugs…the Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it would allow U.S. states and other groups to start pilot programs importing cheap drugs from Canada in an effort to lower drug costs...“Wholesalers should not be permitted to export drugs in bulk from Canada, and there should be strict and significant penalties for exporting drugs where their export is prohibited by law,”...“reliance on reactive measures after shortages occur may pose a risk to Canadian patients.”...READ MORE

McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Corp. have proposed paying $10 billion to settle claims they helped to fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic — the first sign of progress in resolving state lawsuits against the drug distributors…The companies, which deliver the majority of prescription medications to U.S. pharmacies, made the verbal proposal as part of talks with a group of state attorneys general...Whether the distributors and attorneys general can agree to a deal remains uncertain...READ MORE

...Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...said it has finalized a decision to cover expensive cancer cell therapies sold by Gilead Sciences Inc and Novartis AG...CMS...said it will cover the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies when provided in healthcare facilities that have programs in place to track patient outcomes...The nationwide decision clears up “a lot of confusion” about coverage and will help patients get access to the novel therapies...CMS Administrator Seema Verma said...READ MORE

The Trump administration is proposing a rule that would require hospitals to publish the prices that are negotiated with insurers or risk being fined...The proposed rule...would apply to the roughly 6,000 hospitals that accept Medicare. Hospitals could be fined up to $300 a day if the standard and negotiated prices for services are not posted online...Starting this year, the administration required hospitals to publish list prices, or the sticker price. That does not reflect what someone might pay with insurance. The proposed rule would go a step further and require hospitals to also post the prices various insurance plans pay...“We’re trying to change the paradigm here,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said...“We’re trying to ensure we have a competitive free market where providers can compete on cost and quality and patients have the information they need to seek high-quality providers.”...READ MORE