Specialty Pharmacy

SAN DIEGO — A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee has recommended approval for an investigational diet pill.

Orexigen Therapeutics and Takeda Pharmaceutical announced Tuesday that the FDA Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 13-7 that clinical trial data demonstrated that the benefits of the drug Contrave (naltrexone and bupropion) outweighed its risk and supported approval. The committee also voted 11-8 to recommend a study to examine Contrave’s effect on risk for cardiac disease.


NEW YORK — Walgreens. Costco. CVS Caremark. Rite Aid. H-E-B. Wegmans. Kerr Drug. The list goes on. In all, it was a veritable who’s who of retailing as Drug Store News’ annual Industry 
Issues Summit, which also included a Specialty Pharmacy Roundtable and Diabetes Roundtable, attracted more than 200 attendees — a new attendance record — and featured the most diverse retail panelists to date.


SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A biotech drug made by Roche subsidiary Genentech allowed patients with a blood cancer, who did not show symptoms, to delay starting on chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and decreased the risk of their disease worsening, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial.

PHILADELPHIA — The specialty pharmacy market is set to reach $90 billion this year, so it’s clear that managed care organizations have a lot at stake.

That was the overarching theme at a symposium organized by specialty pharmacy provider ACRO Pharmaceutical Services, in conjunction with Armada Health Care, last Thursday at the Hyatt Regency at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A drug made by Amgen maintained blood platelet counts in patients with an autoimmune bleeding disorder, according to results of a five-year study released Sunday.

SARASOTA, Fla. — The Specialty Pharmacy Nursing Network has entered a partnership with ViroPharma’s CinryzeSolutions support program, a training and monitoring program for patients using ViroPharma’s Cinryze (C1 esterase inhibitor [human]) who wish to administer the drug themselves.

Cinryze is a drug administered via infusion for the treatment of hereditary angioedema, and the partnership will allow patients to receive training and follow-up support from SPNN nurses, as well as direction from their physicians.

LISLE, Ill. — Pharmacy benefit manager SXC Health Solutions will acquire Birmingham, Ala.-based specialty pharmacy provider MedfusionRx for $100 million, SXC said Thursday.

SXC also may pay an additional $5.5 million if unspecified performance targets are met through fiscal year 2012, the company said. MedfusionRx operates pharmacies in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, West Virginia and Kansas, and serves more than 9,000 patients.

ELMSFORD, N.Y. — Specialty pharmacy provider BioScrip has appointed David Froesel as EVP, CFO and treasurer, the company said Wednesday. Froesel will begin immediately, replacing Stan Rosembaum, who plans to leave the company before the year ends.

Froesel previously worked at Omnicare, which provides pharmaceutical care services to the elderly, for close to 14 years, serving as SVP and CFO from March 1996 until December 2009. Before working for Omnicare, Froesel worked at Mallinckrodt Group for 18 years.