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Memorial Sloan Kettering doctors create pricing calculator that weighs factors such as side effects, extra years of life….challenging the pharmaceutical industry to adopt a more rational approach to drug pricing…interactive calculator that compares the cost of more than 50 cancer drugs….

Teva and Microchips Biotech have announced a partnership..... implanted delivery system that can store hundreds of doses of a drug over the course of months or years.....hope is to increase outcomes for patients with chronic drug therapies.

Imagine a world where access to any health information or services you needed was available at any time through your digital device. We are not there yet, but CVS Health is doing its best to create that world with its new Digital Innovation Lab located in Boston..."We want to change how healthcare is delivered in this country, and digital is at the heart of the transformation."

..... session at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ 2015 Summer Meetings ....Tom Frank, PharmD, BCPS, ......walked health-system pharmacists through the new drugs for 2015.....a detailed list of 22 new medications, describing the indications, pharmacology, adverse effects, dosing, and associated costs for each.

Seventy-three percent of Americans think that the cost of prescription drugs is unreasonable and, of those, 76% blame drug makers……77% percent…cited pharmaceutical industry profits as the biggest contributing factor to pricing and 53% percent say more pricing regulation is needed.

China has rejected a Gilead Sciences Inc patent application related to its costly hepatitis C drug, a U.S. advocacy group said, adding the move may lead to other countries to consider rejecting patents…..Gilead has drawn fire for the cost of its top-selling drug Sovaldi, priced at $1,000 per pill…..its patents have been challenged in the U.S., India and Europe.

Rite Aid...introduced a medication synchronization program as part of its pharmacy offerings called OneTripRefills..."As part of our efforts to make our pharmacy experience more convenient,...when combined with our existing service to send alerts via text message, email or phone when a prescription is ready to be picked up, it creates a more patient-friendly experience...."

Walgreens and Greater Than AIDS are teaming up this year to offer free HIV testing in more than 150 cities across the country.....we have helped nearly 20,000 people access free testing. We are pleased to be able to continue to help make it easier for those in the communities that we serve to know their status."

To increase revenues, retail pharmacies must grow their customer base – and increase the quality of customers they attract.....first determine their ideal customers. "If your target audience is ‘everyone’, you don’t have a target audience," ...."In pharmacy [in general], the ideal customer is geriatric [customers], followed by pediatrics.

Teva announced .....acquired 4.6% of Mylan’s outstanding shares. The move gives Teva standing in Dutch court, should they decide to pursue action against Mylan...Teva has offered to purchase (Mylan) ....for $40 billion, an offer that has been rejected....