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Jaime Rosenberg, welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

Pharmacists and some health experts are opposing a proposal to permit the bulk importation of drugs from Canada to Maine, arguing that it could result in unsafe drugs being brought into the state and have unintended consequences, such as causing drug shortages in Canada...Proponents of Senate President Troy Jackson’s bill say those fears are unfounded, and believe it could be one of several proposals that would help to rein in prescription drug prices in Maine...If approved, the state would designate a wholesale purchaser of drugs from Canadian wholesalers...READ MORE

The company (Intel) says algorithms can simplify trials and accelerate time to market for new drugs...Efforts to implement artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and machine learning could have multiple applications for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries...The report, “Harnessing AI and Analytics to Drive Digital Transformation,” comes as health systems across the country are working to deploy advanced data analytics to provide faster care for their patients...AI-based algorithms can optimize clinical trial design by eliminating testing criteria that increases time but has a minimal impact on the overall effectiveness of what is being tested...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

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 FDA has been coordinating a recall of adulterated heart medications since last July...Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against drug makers and sellers over widely prescribed generic heart medications tainted with potential carcinogens, the first claims in what some lawyers expect to be a wave of litigation...the carcinogen NDMA was discovered in valsartan manufactured by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co. The contaminated valsartan was sold to a number of major drugmakers and used as an ingredient in other popular cardiovascular therapies...Zhejiang Huahai and its affiliates are the primary targets of the lawsuits. Other companies named in the complaints include generic-drug giants Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Mylan NV, as well as CVS Health Corp., which operates large pharmacy and drug-benefit management businesses. Almost 40 defendants have been sued so far...READ MORE

The MD Anderson Cancer Center said it decided to fire three scientists who, among other allegations, failed to disclose international collaborators. Two of them resigned...in connection with an investigation into possible foreign attempts to take advantage of its federally funded research...Federal officials said they found that some researchers had shared with Beijing intellectual property and pilfered confidential information from grant applications. Other researchers had failed to disclose that they were receiving money from foreign sources while being funded by the N.I.H...Federal officials have said that some scientists have run “shadow laboratories” in China while conducting N.I.H.-funded research in the United States. This month, the N.I.H. said 55 institutions across the country are investigating such concerns...READ MORE

Civica Rx, a provider-led nonprofit generic drug company that aims to improve access to generic medication and lower drug costs, last week opened its headquarters in Lehi, Utah. The company plans to supply 14 generic drugs and have its first on the market by the end of the year...About two dozen healthcare companies, including Intermountain Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Providence St. Joseph Health and Trinity Health are represented on Civica's governing board or are founding members in the nonprofit. Civica expects to partner with more than 900 U.S. hospitals...READ MORE