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Specialty Pharmacy

  • Thrifty White expands Diplomat agreement to bring specialty to affiliate pharmacies
    PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Thrifty White Pharmacy announced recently that it had partnered with Diplomat Pharmacy to expand their current specialty agreement to include Thrifty White’s affiliate pharmacy program. The expansion will allow affiliate pharmacies to provide full-service specialty pharmacy support to complex patients, including 24/7 pharmacist access. 
     

  • Diplomat kicks off third annual internship, fellowship programs
    FLINT, Mich. — Diplomat Pharmacy on Tuesday began the third year of  its 12-week summer fellowship and internship programs. The full-time programs provide fellows and interns housing in downtown Flint during the summer of immersion aimed at giving participants hands-on experience, community introductions and alumni connections. 
     

  • Report: Walgreens can now dispense naloxone without prescription in Lone Star State

    Texas is the latest state in which Walgreens can dispense naloxone without a prescription, according to a KUT.org published Thursday. Last year, advocates and public health experts convinced state lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 1462 in an effort to address the ongoing opioid epidemic. The bill was supposed to expand the availability of naloxone in Texas when it went into effect in September, but things have moved slowly, the news organization reported. On Wednesday, Alicia Kowalchuk with Baylor Medicine in Houston wrote a standing order for the medication for every Walgreens in the state.

  • BCBSA study: Specialty main driver of spending growth from 2013-2014
    Spending on specialty pharmacy medication rose about 26% between 2013 and 2014, according to a new report on spending per member from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and HealthCore. 
     
    The report uses data on specialty drugs covered through both pharmacy and medical benefits, the latter of which can provide particular insight into changes in spending on cancer drugs — 80% of which are billed through the medical benefit. 
     

  • FDA approves Genentech’s targeted bladder cancer treatment
    SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved Genentech’s  Tecentriq (atezolizumab), the company announced Thursday. The drug is a first-in-class treatment for urothelial carcinoma, the most common type of bladder cancer. The drug works by blocking interactions with PD-1/PDL-1 proteins. 
     

  • Smith Drug, Diplomat partner to bring specialty offerings to independents
    SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Smith Drug Co. on Monday announced that it would be partnering with Diplomat Pharmacy to offer its customers specialty pharmacy services through the Diplomat Retail Specialty Network. 
     
    The agreement will allow pharmacies to provide full-service specialty offerings for patients with complex chronic conditions and it will see Diplomat providing 24/7 access to specialty pharmacists and technicians. 
     

  • FDA approves Eisai’s Lenvima for advanced renal cell carcinoma
    SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new indication for Eisai’s Lenvima (lenvatinib). The multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor has been approved to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in combination with everolimus in patients previously treated with an anti-angiogenic therapy. 
     

  • 70 groups pen letter to FDA on biosimilar naming
    SILVER SPRING, Md. — A group of 70 healthcare stakeholders sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration this week, urging the agency to use meaningful, distinguishable suffixes when naming biosimilars. According to the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines, the letter was spurred by the agency choosing a random suffix when it approved the second biosimilar earlier this year. 
     
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