Category:

Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have agreed to work together on the development of a new version of the former's continuous processing technology for oral solid dosage drugs...Pfizer's portable, continuous, miniature and modular (PCMM) system...is designed to break away from the conventional batch manufacturing model used in pharma and towards continuous manufacturing…In continuous manufacturing, drugs are continuously produced in highly-automated, closed units that allow changes to the production parameters on the fly…The approach only allows production to be tweaked if quality issues emerge - avoiding the need to lose an entire batch - and also ties in with the shift towards flexible manufacturing of smaller volumes for specialised applications, such as personalised medicines…Pfizer developed the first generation of its PCMM system along with GEA and G-CON, and describes it as "an autonomous and transportable pod that may be quickly shipped from location to location and readily brought online to create a fully functional module."…it takes around a year to set up, compared to two or three years for conventional production lines.

Radical combination of antibodies and antibiotics could effectively clear up ‘superbug’ infections and TB, as well as reducing harm to healthy microbes…A precision drug therapy that wipes out bugs that hide in the body could help clear up persistent infections that do not respond to standard antibiotics…The treatment works by tagging antibiotics onto antibodies (antibody-antibiotic conjugate) which home in on pathogens and deliver a lethal dose of drug directly to the heart of the infected tissues…The strategy could transform the treatment of patients with recurring bacterial infections, such as the hospital superbug MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus), which can be extremely hard to treat even with powerful antibiotics. The approach also raises hopes for treating relapses in tuberculosis patients, and chronic infections that can take hold after heart surgery.

MD Labs (Reno based) is currently making the rounds to retail pharmacy operators with a new service solution that pharmacists are uniquely qualified to deliver. And it’s a solution that will significantly enhance the role pharmacists already play between providers and patients…That new service is pharmacogenetics, which uses the DNA from a cheek swab sample to help determine the best course of pharmacotherapy for an individual patient across 200 medicines — a number that’s growing…The new RxIGHT Pharmacogenetic Test...can eliminate trial-and-error prescribing of medicine, in which a doctor prescribes a medicine and measures the impact of that course of therapy after the fact, rather than quickly identifying the most appropriate course of therapy…It drives adherence and — perhaps most importantly — improves outcomes.

Victorian pharmacists will play a pivotal role under proposals announced by the Victorian Government to make medicinal cannabis available to some patients under exceptional circumstances…pharmacists will dispense medicinal cannabis after authorisation is provided by medical specialists…“Having pharmacists acknowledged as best-placed to dispense medicinal cannabis is welcomed as it ensures that medicines experts are available to advise and counsel patients using these products,”…there were specific eligibility requirements for the scheme based on conditions and corresponding symptoms. These were:

• Severe muscle spasms or severe pain resulting from multiple sclerosis
• Severe pain, nausea, vomiting or wasting arising from cancer, HIV/AIDS
• Severe seizures resulting from epileptic conditions where other treatment options have failed or have intolerable side effects
• Severe chronic pain with the approval of two specialists

…cryotherapy…treatments…have come under scrutiny after a Las Vegas spa employee was found dead last month in the chamber of a cryotherapy machine chilled by liquid nitrogen…Las Vegas police and Nevada state officials have opened investigations into the circumstances involving the death, but it has moved slowly because the industry is so new in the state that no one agency assumed responsibility for it…Nevada's chief medical officer said Tuesday that the Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance will assume responsibility for investigating complaints as the state health department takes over an expanded probe to determine whether or not the treatment itself is safe. The long review process is now only in its fact-finding stage, but Dr. Tracey Green said some form of education, regulation, scope of work agreement and/or licensure could ultimately be proposed…any rules or policies put in place in Nevada would mark some of the first regulations in the world governing cryotherapy.

When I wrote Healthcare’s Trillion Dollar Disruption, I recounted how a collection of senior executives assembled by Oliver Wyman representing every sector of healthcare foresaw a radical reshaping of the industry. They predicted that over the course of ten years major winners and losers would be created as one-third of the annual revenues of the industry shifted from one set of players to another…More important than the revenue shift is who would be the catalysts for a much higher performing system as measured by the Quadruple Aim. In this list, I highlight the game-changers. Some may also be big revenue winners but that isn’t the point of this list. After all, there are plenty of organizations profiting from today’s wasteful system, so revenue is only one metric of success. Rather, the actions of the organization are putting the wheels in motion for a massive transformation of the industry.

1. MassMutual will slow healthcare’s heist of retirement accounts
2. Collective Health will turn employers fully into the insurance companies they already are
3. Rosen Hotels will show how employers can transform the lives of their employees and their community with a great benefits plan
4. Iora Health will prove primary care is the linchpin to a consumer-centric health future and achieving the Quadruple Aim
5. Surgery Center of Oklahoma will be replicated to overcome severe price failure of healthcare services ranging from surgeries to chronic disease management
6. Oscar will demonstrate that their data science expertise will deliver a superior health plan package that is about more than just consumer-friendly packaging
7. Geisinger Health System will raise awareness of the massive over-investment in hospital infrastructure at the expense of community health

While policymakers, and the country, struggle over challenges facing and created by the Affordable Care Act, real healthcare reform is happening almost completely outside of that loop, driven by technology and innovators, many of whom are from outside the healthcare industry…Health IT or Digital Health-the generic terms used to describe these disruptions that include the use of mobile devices and telemedicine, among other changes-are breaking almost every standard healthcare paradigm. It's that "creative destruction" that economists frequently refer to, transforming how care is delivered, received, tracked, paid for and even understood…And unlike traditional healthcare, where the more money you have the more healthcare your get, the health IT revolution largely ignores those barriers. That's because the poor have mobile devices in almost similar numbers to the rich.

This is the first large-scale study to reveal how doctors' notes affect patients when it comes to taking their prescriptions…the OpenNotes initiative, first conceived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston…The program directly connects patients to their physician's notes through an online portal…Encouraging patients to utilize a Web portal to view their doctors' notes is a cost-effective and efficient way to influence medication-taking behavior…reminding them to read them before visiting their doctor is key to reinforcing the doctors' rationale for prescribing specific medications and dosage…increasing patient access to fully transparent doctors' notes should be on the radar screen of all healthcare providers…

Sherwin-Williams wants to paint a cleaner picture of hospitals…The company created a paint that it claims will kill bacteria -- a major cause of healthcare-associated infections in hospitals. Among the targeted bacteria are Staph, MRSA, E. coli, VRE, and Enterobacter aerogenes…"Paint Shield" claims to kill over 99.9% of these bacteria after they've been on a painted surface for two hours. It also reduces the growth of "common microbes."…It's one of the most significant technological breakthroughs in our nearly 150 year history of innovation…By killing infectious pathogens on painted surfaces, Paint Shield is a game-changing advancement in coatings technology...

A promising new method for battling the spread of HIV in Africa was inspired by an unexpected source 8,000 miles away: a baby shower at the home of a Las Vegas professor…Dr. Echezona Ezeanolue — who leads health research efforts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas — is earning praise from medical experts nationwide for coming up with a more effective way to convince pregnant women in his native Nigeria to be tested for the disease…Ezeanolue had long sought to find a way to boost the country's testing rate when inspiration hit in 2011 after his wife threw a party to celebrate the upcoming birth of their fourth child…"My wife said to me, why don't we use baby showers?"…It was a way to remove some of the barriers…To convince women to get tested, Ezeanolue and his team of 10 fellow researchers organized parties led by religious leaders at worship sites in Nigeria, a country with high church attendance rates. Faith-based organizations are highly influential across Africa, and they play a critical role in the fight against AIDS...