In this Issue

One subcategory that has really jolted the sales-per-square-inch across analgesic sets is sleep aids. Sales of sleeping remedies, including both liquids and tablets, were up 51.2% to $408 million for the 52 weeks ended Aug. 11 across U.S. multi-outlets, according to IRI data. Almost one-third of that, or $127 million, came courtesy of Procter and Gamble’s ZzzQuil, which launched a little more than a year ago.

In 2006, Health Mart was a loosely cohesive buying and marketing group of 268 independently owned and operated drug stores, falling under McKesson Corp.’s store-support umbrella via its purchase of the old FoxMeyer wholesale business in the mid-1990s. Today, just seven years after its reinvention and relaunch by McKesson, Health Mart is the nation’s biggest independent pharmacy franchise and one of the fastest-growing drug store networks of any kind, with more than 3,100 member stores doing business in thousands of communities across the United States.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Positioned as the first skin care line in the marketplace to feature full vitamin E is the new Vitamin E Intensive Therapy Bodycare line from derma e. The line — which is comprised of a body balm, body lotion and hand crème — promises to provide moisture, protection and nourishing skin benefits to restore dry, flaky, itchy, cracked or damaged skin. Vitamin E helps restore and maintain the skin’s natural barrier function to help defend against elemental stress.

For Tom Davis, co-owner of Kiowa Health Mart Pharmacy, in Eads, Colo., technology has always been critical to the operation. “We put in our first pharmacy system in 1982. At the time, we may have been one of the first systems in Colorado, to be honest,” Davis told DSN.

Davis, a 38-year pharmacy veteran — 25 years with Health Mart — essentially organizes technology into 1-of-3 buckets:

The health and pharmacy marketplace is undergoing rapid and fundamental transformation. To navigate profitably in tomorrow’s complex and shifting healthcare system, the pharmacy benefit management industry — along with the pharmacies and health plan payers allied with PBMs — are going to have to change and adapt as well.

It has been just over a year since Frank Scorpiniti took the helm at Canada's Rexall Pharma Plus. And, as the Canadian retail market continues to heat up, the company has officially taken the lid off a reinvention of its business, from its stores and its brand, to the products and services in its stores.

While the Food and Drug Administration released draft guidance on regulations for biosimilars in February 2012, the final regulations have yet to appear. But already, everyone from analysts to trade groups to drug makers is preparing for a time when knock-off versions of biotech drugs will become available.

A new report sheds light on some of the opportunities and challenges that exist in follow-on biologics, arguing that their opportunity to generate value depends on factors like the speed of development, clarity of regulation, ease of access and the roles of all stakeholders.

Smart device usage has become an active part of in-store shopping. According to a recent poll of Accent-Health smart device owners, nearly 3-out-of-5 have used their phone or tablet to aid in product selection while shopping in-store. However, consumers are more likely to research their next TV on their mobile device than their prescription medication. According to AccentHealth VP market research, Natalie Hill, "When it comes to medical treatment, healthcare professionals remain the most trusted source for information.