In this Issue

Quantity and quality: Those are the two metrics by which any pharmacy operation is measured — quantity of prescriptions dispensed and quality of services provided. Quantity keeps you in business; quality keeps your patients coming back.

It’s a constant challenge for a small operator to score high on both metrics, but that’s exactly what McKesson’s 2013 Pharmacy of the Year Award recipient Parkland Health Mart Pharmacy, of Desloge, Mo., has done.

Category saturation and competition from private label may be inhibiting sales growth within the sun care segment, but infusing additional skin care benefits, like antioxidants, and targeting such demographic groups as men and multicultural consumers could help brighten sales.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)

One of Health Mart’s newest owners is Yang Xiong, who opened Minneapolis’ Northside Community Health Mart Pharmacy in July. A 2011 graduate of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota, Xiong spent his first years working for two national chains. That experience led him to want to operate his own pharmacy and have a more direct impact on his patients.

NEW YORK — Among the new entrants to the growing facial oil segment is L’Oréal Paris’ Age Perfect Glow Renewal Facial Oil, which hit shelves in July. Described as the first concentrated facial oil to any mass market, the oil is designed to boost skin’s natural radiance and provide all-day hydration. It contains a blend of eight essential oils, which have been selected based on their lightweight, fast-absorbing properties.

For the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Generic Drugs, one of the biggest stumbling blocks has been its significant backlog of generic drug approval applications. But it’s steadily making progress in addressing the problem.

When Congress approved a reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act that included the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments last year, that backlog included about 2,500 applications. But thanks to GDUFA, the agency has managed to clear muchof it.

NEW YORK — Over the past century, women have come to recognize the famous Nivea crème tin. Now, the iconic tin has taken on a new form and served as the inspiration for the redesigned packaging across all of theNivea products. During a recent press event in New York City featuring celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch, the skin care brand celebrated the new “design language,” which is designed to help unify the look and feel of Nivea — making it more prominent and easily recognizable at shelf.

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — Pharmavite launched its latest VMS innovation, Nature Made VitaMelts, earlier this summer, and already the brand ranks No. 12 among one- and two-letter vitamins, according to 52-week sales data as tracked by IRI.

The most significant point of differentiation: a new-format delivery that induces trial and subsequently the repurchase. “The repurchase is so high because the marketing campaign has been very successful and continues to build awareness among mass consumers,” noted Pharmavite spokesman Doug Jones.

TORRANCE,Calif. — Hisamitsu America’s Salonpas has been experiencing significantgrowth in the past year with sales up 38% to $43.1 million. Hisamitsu last year expanded the Salonpas brand beyond patches with the launch of Salonpas Pain Relieving Massage Foam and Salonpas Pain Relieving Jet Spray.