Pharmacy

All community and independent pharmacies in the Optum Rx network have transitioned to a cost-based reimbursement model aimed at improving payment transparency and stability. The shift follows new agreements with three pharmacy services administration organizations, which represent more than 17,000…

The FDA has granted full approval to rucaparib (Rubraca) for adults with BRCA-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The decision is based on a confirmatory analysis of a randomized trial of 405 patients who had progressed on prior androgen receptor pathway…

Some U.S. hospitals and health systems are marking up generic cancer drugs by more than five times their commercial rates, Bloomberg reported Dec. 17. Bloomberg analyzed data from the price transparency platform Turquoise Health. Of the more than 1,700 hospitals and eight…

Novo Nordisk is seeking FDA approval for an experimental obesity shot, CagriSema (cagrilintide and semaglutide), according to a Dec. 18 news release from the Denmark-based drugmaker.  CagriSema is a weekly injection of semaglutide, a GLP-1, and cagrilintide, a long-acting amylin…

After a UCI Health pharmacy pilot exceeded its goal $1.1 million in gross margin by an additional $300,000, the Orange, Calif.-based system approved a $30 million expansion of the project.  Melanie Joe, PharmD, chief pharmacy officer at UCI Health, a…

The FDA has approved GSK’s Exdensur (depemokimab-ulaa) as an add-on maintenance treatment for severe asthma with an eosinophilic phenotype in patients ages 12 and older. The approval is based on data from the drugmaker’s SWIFT-1 and SWIFT-2 trials, which showed…

The FDA approved a label change for Pfizer’s birth control injection Depo-Provera on Dec. 13, adding a warning about the risk of meningioma — a brain tumor — to two versions of the drug. The update applies to Depo-Provera CI…

Healthcare is continuously evolving. And with that comes increasing complexity – fragmented care, staffing challenges, cybersecurity concerns, inventory visibility gaps, and regulatory pressures, just to name a few. Today’s systems can create silos across the care continuum, keeping pharmacists and…

Will Carroll, PharmD, has joined Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health as vice president and chief pharmacy officer after three years at Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health.  Dr. Carroll assumed his new role Nov. 3, according to a spokesperson for the 27-hospital…

Ultra high-cost drugs, or medications that cost more than $1 million per patient, can be life-altering treatments. They are also covered in an obsolete payment system, according to Mike Evans, RPh, chief pharmacy officer for Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger. “Every year,…