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Mike Glaicar, Business Development: Pharmacy Times...(PTNN) This weekly video program highlights the latest in pharmacy news, product news, and more. (video)

Robert Mulroy, Merrimack CEO, discusses the risk factors and...

AstraZeneca and Cephalon — have agreed to pay a total of $54 million to federal and state governments to settle allegations that they shortchanged Medicaid programs on rebates for drugs… The allegations involve rebates owed to Medicare which are negotiated with pharmaceutical companies, which are often touted as a main reason that the cost of any drug is actually less than the published price…in a lawsuit against the two drug companies claiming that they violated so-called “false claims acts” by manipulating how they reported the prices of drugs in order to decrease rebates owed to state Medicaid programs… lawsuit claimed that AstraZeneca and Cephalon falsely treated certain fees paid to wholesalers as “discounts,” improperly lowering the average prices reported and they amount they paid…

Insys Therapeutics CEO Michael Babich has stepped down, with company chairman Dr. John Kapoor taking over as CEO…The news comes as the company reported third quarter earnings…shortly after CNBC released an investigative piece…day on the company, which included allegations of fraud, kickbacks, and aggressive drug marketing…the…company…markets and sells an opioid painkiller called Subsys Fentanyl, which is administered by spray.

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.

Pfizer is looking to help more patients afford medication, announcing… that it would be expanding eligibility for its RxPathways program, which offers services to help patients access medication. The change makes patients who earn up to four times the federal poverty level based on family size (up to $97,000 for a family of four) eligible for some of the 40 medicines offered for free by the program…“We have listened to patients and acted quickly to significantly expand the eligibility of our patient assistance programs. While patient assistance is not a permanent solution, it is a necessary step for helping to solve some of the high co-pay issues that some patients face,”…

...controversial HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine does not cause chronic pain or dizziness, despite reports from patients’ families complaining of those side effects, European regulators said…after an extensive review…European Medicine Agency began its review in July after families complained that girls who were vaccinated suffered complex regional pain syndrome…a chronic pain that affects limbs. Other families said the vaccines caused postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome…which causes dizziness and fainting…“The available evidence does not support a link” between the vaccines and the syndromes…“There is no reason to change the way the vaccines are used.”

Bartell Drugs will unveil the largest of its 64 locations at Bellevue Village (Bellevue, WA)…with the completion of a major 5,500-square-foot expansion and remodel…In keeping with Bartell Drugs' “hyper-local” focus, the store includes an array of new features and product areas spotlighting local partners, including the “Bellevue Fountain” offering in-store barista services with fresh-brewed coffee and espresso drinks from Seattle’s Caffe Vita and scooped servings of Bartell Drugs’ own Emerald & Spruce premium ice cream in partnership with local Snoqualmie Ice Cream. And then there's the Bellevue introduction of Bartells’ “Growler Station” with nine local craft beers on tap for take-home.

Caremark, a division of CVS Health, won an incentive package Tuesday from Orange County (FL) to bring a pharmaceutical operation here next year that could create as many as 500 jobs…County commissioners approved the company's request in a 6-1 vote…Caremark plans to establish a support operation here for its pharmacies in the southeastern U.S…The jobs, including 100 pharmacists and 350 pharmacy techs, will pay an average annual salary of about $49,000, qualifying it for a "high-wage jobs" tax break…The Caremark proposal also will boost the county's tax roll by $18.7 million…Caremark would add 275 jobs by the end of next year and another 225 jobs in 2017…The company would be in line for $1.5 million in tax refunds from the state, or about $3,000 per job. The county would kick in up to $300,000.

Work to begin in early 2016…Walgreens is poised to roll out Epic EHRs (Care Everywhere) in its more than 400 healthcare clinics across the country…The Epic platform will replace Walgreens' own proprietary EHR…The goal…is to...enable more seamless communication with health systems and local providers, and gives us enhanced capabilities to deliver better health outcomes through greater care coordination and interoperability…our clinics play an increasingly important role in healthcare, supporting the healthcare system, provider practices and patients' medical homes, care coordination can be critical. This will benefit our patients, clinic providers and partners, and serves as an instrumental part of our strategic growth plan…