Specialty Pharmacy

NEW YORK — The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is putting $7 million toward research into ways to speed repair of the nervous system in patients with MS, the organization said Friday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A professional organization for specialty pharmacy plans to develop pharmacy practice parameters in about 20 therapeutic categories focused on disease management.

NEW YORK — Legislation to allow the Food and Drug Administration to strengthen its regulatory powers over compounding pharmacies is expected to pass both houses of Congress after committees agreed on it Thursday, according to published reports.

WASHINGTON — Next year, 7 million people will be using health insurance marketplaces, and that figure will nearly quadruple in five years, according to a coalition of cancer-focused organizations.

Patient Services Inc., which includes 18 partnering cancer and patient advocacy organizations, announced Wednesday the launch of the Cancer Insurance Checklist, designed to help people with cancer, a history of the disease or those at risk of getting it, choose insurance plans in the state-based health insurance marketplaces, which will open on Oct. 1.

HOUSTON — A bill under consideration by the Senate could force more than 40% of compounding pharmacies to abandon compounding, according to a new survey.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A decision by the Department of Health and Human Services to resolve conflicts that arose when it issued regulations under a law that establishes privacy rules for health information technology has drawn applause from a specialty pharmacy organization.

STAMFORD, Conn. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new dosage strength for a chronic pain patch made by Purdue Pharma, the drug maker said Tuesday.

Purdue announced the approval of the 15-microgram-per-hour strength of Butrans (buprenorphine). The drug is used to treat moderate to severe chronic pain when a continuous, around-the-clock opioid analgesic is needed for an extended period of time. The new strength is in addition to the 5-microgram, 10-microgram and 20-microgram strengths already on the market, and it will be launched next month.

GHENT, Belgium — Belgian drug maker Ablynx is licensing an experimental treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus to U.S. drug maker AbbVie in a deal worth up to $840 million, the companies said.

The two drug makers announced that AbbVie would license the drug ALX-0061 for an upfront payment of $175 million plus milestone payments worth up to $665 million, as well as royalties. The drug belongs to a class known as anti-interleukin-6R nanobodies, which work by targeting an immune-system protein pathway that plays a key role in the inflammation associated with RA.