Pharmacy

Pharmacy benefit manager Optum Rx has raised reimbursement minimums for brand-name drugs at around 2,300 independent pharmacies nationwide.  The change applies to pharmacies that are not affiliated with a pharmacy services administrative organization, chain or other network, according to a…

Pharmacists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., have started using 3D-printing technology to help produce compounded medications starting with hydrocortisone formulations.  The hospital is working to integrate the printers within existing U.S. Pharmacopoeia standards for nonsterile and…

Eli Lilly is building a $5 billion manufacturing facility in Richmond, Va. It is the company’s first fully integrated facility for active pharmaceutical ingredients.  The site is also intended to support the drugmaker’s bioconjugate platform and monoclonal antibody portfolio, including…

As genomic medicine evolves, health systems are embedding pharmacogenomics into pharmacy operations, not only as a research function but as a clinical asset to personalize patient treatment and reduce adverse effects.  Here are responses from four pharmacy leaders who were…

CMS proposed in July to expedite its payment reduction for some 340B items and services until it recoups $7.8 billion. Hospital systems are pushing back.  To compensate for underpayments in the 340B program between 2018 and 2022, CMS policy codified…

Novo Nordisk reported results from its phase 3 clinical trial for its experimental obesity drug cagrilintide which showed significant weight loss among participants.  The research, presented at the 2025 European Association for the Study of Diabetes congress in Vienna, found…

Elie Bahou, PharmD, former chief pharmacy officer at Renton, Wash.-based Providence, has joined pharmacy company Hercules Pharmaceuticals as executive vice president and chief pharmacy strategy officer.  Dr. Bahou previously led integrated pharmacy operations at Providence, focusing on payer-provider collaboration, supply…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld a Mississippi court decision to deny drugmaker AbbVie’s request for a preliminary injunction against a state law protecting access to 340B drug pricing.  The ruling follows a coalition of hospital…

The federal government is awarding a contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to investigate the association between vaccines and autism.  The Troy, N.Y.-based engineering school is receiving the no-bid contract due to what HHS said is the school’s “unique ability” to…

The FDA is moving to scale back its long-standing use of expert panels to review drug applications, KFF Health News reported Sept. 12. George Tidmarsh, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the agency…