- U.S. panel backs approval of Sanofi combination diabetes drug (reuters.com)
One day after recommending approval of a new diabetes drug made by Novo Nordisk A/S, a U.S. advisory panel...recommended approval of a similar product made by Sanofi SA…combination drug, iGlarLixi, for patients with type 2 diabetes...IGlarLixi combines Sanofi's insulin drug Lantus with its experimental diabetes treatment lixisenatide, a member of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists...Lixisenatide by itself is an experimental drug. The panel discussed FDA concerns that the drug may cause more allergic reactions than others in the class but were satisfied that its safety and efficacy was broadly in line with others in its class...An FDA approval decision on lixisenatide is expected in July and on iGlarLixi in August...
- Southern Hills Hospital to add $26M psychiatric facility (reviewjournal.com)
Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center plans to expand its psychiatric services with the addition of a $26 million behavioral health center to its main structure...The one-story, 80-bed center, which will be connected to the main hospital building at 9300 W. Sunset Road, is scheduled to begin construction this year...It is expected to open next year to "ease the chronic lack of space and add services to treat adolescents through senior patients, age 55 and over,"...The facility will serve patients with state-funded Medicaid, Medicare and all private insurance....About 120 staff members will work at the center, 92 of which will be new hires...The lack of Medicaid psych beds has led to overcrowded emergency rooms in our hospitals and delayed treatment for those in dire need...
- The Plan to Avert Our Post-Antibiotic Apocalypse (theatlantic.com)
Under instructions from U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, economist Jim O’Neill has spent the last two years looking into the problem of drug-resistant infections—bacteria and other microbes that have become impervious to antibiotics. In that time, he estimates that a million people have died from such infections. By 2050, he thinks that ten million will die every year...The problem of drug-resistant microbes isn’t just about biology and chemistry; it’s an economic problem at heart, a catastrophic and long-bubbling mismatch between supply and demand. It’s the result of the many incentives for misusing our drugs, and the dearth of incentives for developing new ones...The scope of that problem is clear in O’Neill’s final report...resistance is not futile...O’Neill’s report includes ten steps to avert the crisis.
- improve sanitation
- global surveillance network
- reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics in agriculture
- better, faster, cheaper diagnostic tools
- public-awareness campaign
- promoting effective alternatives like vaccines
- improve the numbers, pay and recognition of people working in infectious disease.
- market-entry rewards
- global innovation fund for early-stage research
- build a global coalition
- This Week in Managed Care: May 21, 2016 (ajmc.com)
Justin Gallagher, associate publisher of The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care, From the Managed Markets News Network.
- Can a pricey implant to treat opioid addiction save lives — and money? (statnews.com)
The implant promises to treat opioid addiction without the hassle of a daily pill. And the company marketing the drug is so confident it’ll work, it’s planning to offer insurers a twist on a money-back guarantee: If the new device doesn’t save them money, they’ll get a refund...The implant, branded as Probuphine, relies on four tiny rods implanted under the skin to dispense the drug buprenorphine for six months at a time. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide on Friday whether to approve it...Braeburn Pharmaceuticals...has commercial rights to the implant...plans to price the implant "competitively" with other injectable drugs for neuropsychological conditions…"We are going to put our money where our mouth is," said Braeburn CEO Behshad Sheldon. "We believe that when you guarantee compliance with a medicine, it is going to save money in the long run."...The FDA rejected the implant the first time it came before the agency in 2013, requesting more data demonstrating its efficacy.
- CVS Pharmacy Says “So Long, Long Receipts,” Announces Arrival of Digital Receipts for Customers (finance.yahoo.com)
The imminent chain-wide arrival of digital receipts was first unveiled on Friday evening on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, in a surprise appearance featuring CVS Pharmacy President Helena Foulkes. The show acknowledged the...feedback shared by millions of customers – including host Jimmy Kimmel himself, who has put CVS Pharmacy receipts and ExtraCare Rewards in the spotlight several times in the past...We are excited to roll out the much-anticipated launch of digital receipts. We heard loud and clear that while our customers love receiving coupons and special offers, many wanted a paperless option...This feature lets our customers continue to make personalized choices as to how they engage with us, and will let our members choose to say 'So long!' to the long paper receipts at check-out...
- Genentech accused again of cheating health care providers (statnews.com)
Yet another health care provider is accusing Genentech of fudging the amount of the Herceptin medicine that the company provides in each vial, causing the facility and many other hospitals to overpay for the pricey treatment...the Comanche County Memorial Hospital filed a lawsuit alleging that Genentech...shortchanges hospitals by placing less of the breast cancer medication in vials, or alternatively, misrepresenting the amount of the drug that must be mixed in a solution. Under either scenario, the lawsuit contends providers would unnecessarily be forced to purchase additional vials...Genentech maintains that its medicine comes in vials as a freeze-dried powder, which must be mixed with a liquid. But the hospitals and health care providers contend that the resulting solution yields less than the amount claimed by the drug maker...
- Israeli firms team up for high-speed 3D stem cell printing (reuters.com)
Israeli 3D printer firm Nano Dimension has successfully lab-tested a 3D bioprinter for stem cells, paving the way for the potential printing of large tissues and organs...While 3D printers are used already to create stem cells for research, Nano Dimension said the trial, conducted with Israeli biotech firm Accellta Ltd, showed its adapted printer could make large volumes of high resolution cells quickly...3D bioprinting enabled by the two companies' technologies, means that Nano Dimension and Accellta have the potential to accelerate high fidelity and high viability manufacturing of living cellular products...Accellta's technology can deliver large quantities of high quality cells which can be an enabler for printing even large and complex tissues and organs...
- France faults Bial and Biotrial over fatal drug trial (reuters.com)
Portuguese drugmaker Bial and French laboratory Biotrial are at fault "on several counts" for a failed drug trial that left one person dead and five others hospitalized in January, French Health Minister Marisol Touraine said...All trials of the drug, designed to treat mood and anxiety issues as well as coordination disorders linked to neurological issues, have since been suspended...The victims were given the experimental drug made by Bial during a phase one trial at a private facility in Rennes, Brittany, run by France's Biotrial...A final investigation report confirms that the conditions under which the test was approved did not breach existing legislation...Inspectors consider, however, that Bial and Biotrial are responsible on several counts; regarding the dosage prescribed (...) and the time taken to alert authorities...An initial inquiry in February had already established that Biotrial had been too slow to react when the first subject became sick...
- Vermont poised to become first state to require pharma to justify pricing (statnews.com)
Vermont could become the first state in the country to require drug makers to justify price hikes on their medicines, a move that may prompt others to take similar action but also spark a battle with the pharmaceutical industry...A bill that would force companies to explain their pricing recently passed the legislature, but must still be signed by Governor Peter Shumlin…The development comes amid mounting furor over prescription drug costs. Several states have responded by proposing legislation that requires drug companies to either reveal their costs or explain their pricing. These demands reflect industry arguments that rising prices reflect rising R&D costs...Transparency is the first step in getting prices under control...I don’t think this bill will lower prices next year, but hopefully it will get other states to pass similar laws and pressure Congress to act...Some companies will resist turning over this information because it looks at the most important business metrics that they don’t want to share with the world...the language in the bill is troublesome, because it is "virtually impossible" to comply with what he described as an "open-ended" requirement for companies to provide all of the relevant information and documents to justify price hikes.