Onco360, MedImpact sign cancer-treatment deal

NEW YORK — Cancer-focused specialty pharmacy Onco360 has signed a contract with privately owned pharmacy benefit manager MedImpact Healthcare Systems, whereby the pharmacy will offer its services to the PBM's members.

The two companies said the partnership would offer MedImpact clients "a unique and effective solution for bending the cost curve," and was aimed at providing benefit payers with a proven and effective cancer pharmacy program that combines a cost-effective dispensing model with "clinical excellence."

"This is an exciting and timely collaboration, as the healthcare industry is at a crossroads, and the complexities of cancer care demand a novel solution," Onco360 CEO Burt Zweigenhaft said. "By addressing three key facets — fragmentation, coordination of care and cost control — we believe this comprehensive solution can have a positive effect for not just payers, but more importantly, the patients we put at the center of everything we do."

MedImpact president Greg Watanabe noted that the cost of cancer care was projected to increase to nearly $175 billion by 2020, a fourfold increase in less than a decade. The collaboration will bring the multidisciplinary approach used in many cancer treatment centers to the outpatient setting, featuring board-certified oncology pharmacists to provide coordination and clinical experience throughout the entire continuum of cancer care.

"Bringing together the oncology experience and expertise of Onco360 with the MedImpact approach to pharmacy benefit management will result in a unique and integrated benefit solution for oncology," Watanabe said. "With the coming changes of the Affordable Care Act and the heightened focus on delivering quality measures, it is clear to MedImpact and our clients that something needs to be done to more effectively manage the treatment and cost of cancer care."