Diabetes

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The main trade group representing branded drug makers gave an award to two Merck scientists who helped discover an oral medication for Type 2 diabetes.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Despite a difficult economy and rising health costs, the benefits of an integrated pharmacy service were evident as CVS Caremark helped its pharmacy benefit manager clients — employers, health plans and third-party administrators — manage pharmacy costs, according to the company's annual "Insights Report."

NEW YORK — Healthcare reform has remained a major subject of debate since President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last March, but what the law means for diabetes care was the particular focus of a conference call with diabetes stakeholders Tuesday.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A point-of-sale safety check may reduce the risk of patients unsafely receiving a drug for Type 2 diabetes that may increase their risk of heart attack, according to a new study conducted by pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics and scheduled for presentation at the 23rd annual meeting of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy in Minneapolis.

NEW YORK — A diabetes education program developed by Johns Hopkins researchers significantly improved long-term blood-sugar control among patients.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Infopia America last week announced that its new SmartDiabetes product line has launched in 284 Walgreens drug stores in central and northeast Florida. The central Florida Walgreens region includes stores in Jacksonville, Orlando, Lakeland, Daytona Beach and Melbourne.

ST. LOUIS — The road to waste reduction is paved with good intentions.

That’s the conclusion of pharmacy benefit manager Express Script’s "2010 Drug Trend Report," which found that 33% of annual pharmacy-related waste can be eliminated by encouraging patients to improve common behaviors linked to their prescription drugs by harnessing their good intentions.

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. and BERLIN — Regeneron and Bayer HealthCare have initiated 1-of-2 late-stage clinical trials of their aflibercept ophthalmic solution in the treatment of a complication caused by diabetic retinopathy.

The drug makers said that it would evaluate the efficacy of VEGF Trap-Eye (aflibercept ophthalmic solution) in the treatment of diabetic macular edema, a prevalent cause of vision loss among diabetes patients, after promising results from its previous clinical trial.