Industry Advocacy

WASHINGTON — The Council for Responsible Nutrition on Tuesday announced it is exploring adding representation for companies in the medical food industry to its mission, following a unanimous vote by the CRN board of directors at its June board meeting to launch an examination of this burgeoning sector of the nutrition category.

WASHINGTON — The Association for Accessible Medicines has named a new deputy general counsel. Rachel Sher joins the advocacy organization from her role as a senior policy analyst in the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Policy.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Steve Anderson, president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, has submitted comments to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, the organization announced Monday.

WASHINGTON — This week, the board of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores was pounding the pavement on Capitol Hill to share with lawmakers the role that pharmacy plays in the nation’s healthcare system.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has taken the first step in its recently announced effort to bring more generics to market to increase competition. The agency has posted a list of branded drugs that have no listed patents or exclusivities that currently have no approved generics and has instituted a new policy to speed up review of applications for generics of products with limited competition.

ARLINGTON, Va. — At the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Total Store Expo, attendees of the conference’s NACDS Political Involvement Reception will get to hear from NBC News and MSNBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin. He will speak at the reception, which takes place Aug. 19 — the first night of NACDS TSE, which will be held in San Diego through Aug. 22.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb has taken to the agency’s FDA Voice blog to outline the efforts he’s undertaking that are aimed at increasing competition in the generics market. The FDA’s Drug Competition Action Plan begins with a public hearing on July 18 to assess the places where FDA regulations could be creating obstacles to generic access.

WASHINGTON — Two lawmakers recently introduced legislation that aims to make compounded medications more accessible to patients. Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, introduced HR 2871, the Preserving Patient Access to Compounded Medications Act of 2017.

The act would clarify the Drug Quality and Security Act in a way that would align the statute with congressional intent to balance the issues of public safety and patient access. The bill’s introduction has been praised by pharmacy organizations.