- Will sky-high drug prices spur the US to use an obscure power over patents? (biopharmadive.com)
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
- Top 5 AJMC® Articles of November 2019 (ajmc.com)
Laura Joszt for The American Journal of Managed Care®. Here are the top 5 articles for the month of November.
- Federal addiction treatment dollars off-limits for marijuana (apnews.com)
The U.S. government is barring federal dollars meant for opioid addiction treatment to be used on medical marijuana...The move is aimed at states that allow marijuana for medical uses, particularly those letting patients with opioid addiction use pot as a treatment, said Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, whose federal agency doles out money to states for treatment programs...“There’s zero evidence for that,” McCance-Katz said. “We felt that it was time to make it clear we did not want individuals receiving funds for treatment services to be exposed to marijuana and somehow given the impression that it’s a treatment.”...READ MORE
- The elephant in the biopharma classroom (pharmamanufacturing.com)
The world can’t stop talking about biopharma’s scientific achievements, but the discussion often avoids the industry’s biggest potential buzzkill: a shortage of properly trained workers to manufacture these new drugs...As more new therapies are approved and the industry ramps up facility capacity, biopharma needs to have a properly trained workforce in place...Traditional training methods are one-dimensional and simply not producing biopharma workers who can “hit the plant floor running.” With help from academia, the biopharma industry is at long last beginning to address this problem and subsequently rethink workforce training — but is this paradigm shift happening fast enough to keep pace with biopharma’s progress?...READ MORE
- Private donors will fund new home for UNLV medical school (reviewjournal.com)
Gov. Steve Sisolak announced...a new plan for a permanent home for the UNLV School of Medicine that relies on $155 million in donor funds, rather than a $125 million bond measure approved in July...“This agreement is a monumental step forward in ensuring that UNLV will have a state-of-the-art medical school that will save taxpayer money, raise the quality of health care, and help us combat Nevada’s critical doctor shortage in the face of rapid population growth,”...In July, the Nevada System of Higher Education regents authorized acting university President Marta Meana to move forward with a plan to fund the building via $125 million in bonds... a funding resolution was never brought before the Board of Regents...UNLV will be able to use the bonding capacity for another purpose...Before the bond resolution, the school planned to construct a building through a combination of donations and a state grant...READ MORE
- This Week in Managed Care: November 29, 2019 (ajmc.com)
Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- This Week in Managed Care: November 22, 2019 (ajmc.com)
Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- Amazon launches new Alexa feature that reminds customers when to take meds (mobihealthnews.com)
Amazon is jumping into the medication adherence space with a new feature that lets users link up their pharmacy prescription information and, in turn, get reminders about when to take their pills and order refills...The latest feature was born out of a collaboration between the online retail giant and Omnicell, a tech-enabled medication management company. Initially the feature will be rolled out to Giant Eagle Pharmacy customers...this feature will be using “multiple layers of verification” to protect user information, including voice recognition and passcodes...Voice technology is coming onto the healthcare scene in recent years...“Voice has proven to be beneficial for a variety of use cases because it removes barriers, and simplifies daily tasks,”... “We believe this new Alexa feature will help simplify the way people manage their medication by removing the need to continuously think about what medications they’ve taken that day or what they need to take...READ MORE
- November 29 Pharmacy Week in Review (pharmacytimes.com)
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.
- Pharmacy Week in Review: November 22 (pharmacytimes.com)
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.