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...I update our estimates of pharmacy economics and margins. Our analysis reveals that profits per prescription in 2018 were unchanged from the 2017 figures. However, the average pharmacy in the NCPA sample filled fewer prescriptions, causing the average pharmacy owner’s salary to decline for the fifth consecutive year...

1. Overall independent pharmacy profit margins have stabilized.
2. Independent pharmacies’ prescription profit margins also were stable.
3. Independent pharmacies’ generic dispensing rates matched those of the overall market.
4. The average pharmacist who owned a single pharmacy earned about $129,000 in 2018—down for the fifth consecutive year.
5. By the NCPA's count, the total number of independent pharmacies continues to drop.

Retail pharmacies account for a majority of the pharmacy industry’s dispensed prescriptions but a decreasing share of the industry’s revenues...This means that most of them lack access to the specialty drugs that now make up one-third of the pharmacy industry’s revenues...READ MORE

The U.S. is approving new drugs so fast that companies are now preparing for a green light months in advance of the scheduled decision date, a pace that’s helping patients with rare or untreatable diseases but raising alarm among consumer advocates...“It isn’t that we changed our policies and are saying we are going to approve drugs faster,” said Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research...“The difference now is we are going to see more of those because of the science. If there are people out there with no options and they have terrible diseases, we are going to get those drugs to them as fast as feasible.”...READ MORE

Blink Health, a digital health company, is getting into the holiday spirit by offering new patients more than 4,000 medications for free...“Prescription drug prices are simply too high for too many people. We have all heard the tragic stories of people having to decide between taking their medications and eating, or cutting pills in half to save money — that’s simply not acceptable...” Geoff Chaiken, Blink Health CEO said. “...we’re focused on fixing that problem by putting the interests of patients first — not large corporations.”...New patients who sign up and order their first prescription through Blink Health will be provided with a credit of up to $10 off their first order, which covers many of the most popular prescription drugs available through Blink Health...READ MORE

The co-founders of Outcome Health and several former executives have been charged by the Department of Justice in a $1 billion fraud scheme targeting clients, lenders and investors...The DOJ...charging Rishi Shah and Shradha Agarwal, the co-founders...along with Brad Purdy, former chief operating officer and chief financial officer and Ashik Desai, former executive vice president of business operations...At the same time, the Securities and Exchange Commission...added the executives to its civil complaint, alleging they falsely portrayed the company’s success to investors and auditors to the tune of $487 million...The DOJ filing alleges that from 2011 to 2017, the executives bilked mostly pharma companies by selling them “tens of millions of dollars of advertising inventory that did not exist.” The indictment claims the faux sales resulted in inflated financial statements that were then used to raise financing in 2016 and 2017...READ MORE

Consider the boom in pharmacies operated by physician practices. The growth in oral and patient self-injectable specialty drugs has encouraged physicians to dispense these products from their offices and clinics. For example, almost half of all oncology practices now dispense specialty drugs to their patients...the share of oncology practices dispensing prescriptions has declined for the first time in at least six years. I suspect that we are at a turning point in the growth of physician practice dispensing...this development reflects how PBMs and their plan sponsor clients are managing specialty channels...PBMs offer financial carrots that entice plan sponsor to shift prescriptions into PBM-owned specialty pharmacies. This dynamic creates novel competitive conflicts between historically separate drug channel participants. Meanwhile, physicians are learning the perils of competing with vertically-integrated channel organizations...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

The FDA has issued warning letters to 15 companies for illegally selling products containing cannabidiol in ways that violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act...“We remain concerned that some people wrongly think that the myriad of CBD products on the market, many of which are illegal, have been evaluated by the FDA and determined to be safe, or that trying CBD ‘can’t hurt,’” said FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Amy Abernethy,...“Aside from one prescription drug approved to treat two pediatric epilepsy disorders, these products have not been approved by the FDA and we want to be clear that a number of questions remain regarding CBD’s safety—including reports of products containing contaminants, such as pesticides and heavy metals— and there are real risks that need to be considered.”...READ MORE

Pharmacists have taken their rightful place in the delivery of health care, engaging with patients and making a noticeable improvement in their patients’ health outcomes. As the clinical role of pharmacists has grown, so too has the imperative to fill an ever-increasing number of prescriptions in a day. As a result, pharmacy technology and automation companies are stepping up to the plate to ensure that pharmacists can juggle their role successfully...READ MORE

• Speeding up Dispensing
• Rethinking Processes
• Software and Workflow

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.

With the major Democratic 2020 candidates campaigning on lowering drug prices, march-in rights are now back in focus as a tool to achieve that goal. Biopharmas are setting too-high prices for drugs discovered with taxpayer support, the argument goes, which ought to spur the government to take possession of their patents to lower costs. The Trump administration also has shown some interest in pharma patents...The calls are only growing thanks to "patent thickets," the expansive intellectual property estates that drugmakers use to shield drugs from generic competition well beyond the date of first patent expiration...The problem with appealing to march-in rights as a solution is the government has always refused to use the power it holds...READ MORE