Content about Specialty Pharmacy

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for reducing the severity of chickenpox symptoms, the agency said Friday.

The FDA announced the approval of Cangene Corp.'s Varizig (varicella zoster immune globulin [human]) for varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox. The FDA said Varizig was the only FDA-approved immune globulin for the virus after exposure.

WASHINGTON — An advocacy group said proposed Food and Drug Administration rules for compounding pharmacies would put the public's health and safety at risk.

In a letter sent to Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Public Citizen criticized Food and Drug Administration commissioner Margaret Hamburg for "both undermining her agency's authority in congressional testimony last month and offering a plan that would effectively weaken the agency's oversight of drug manufacturing."

PHILADELPHIA — The changing healthcare environment and the challenges and opportunities of specialty pharmacy were the biggest themes at Acro Pharmaceutical Services' sixth annual Payer and Managed Care Symposium in Philadelphia last Thursday.

Representatives from drug makers and across the specialty pharmacy space met at the Hyatt at the Bellevue to discuss a wide variety of topics related to specialty pharmacy.

WAYNE, N.J. — A new product makes gripping such things as eating utensils, pens and toothbrushes easier for people with arthritis.

Maddak announced the availability of the Universal Built-Up Handle, designed as a "do-it-yourself" product to enlarge the gripping surfaces of common household items.

LONDON — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new biotech drug from GlaxoSmithKline for anthrax, the drug maker said.

GSK announced the approval of raxibacumab for adults and children who have inhaled Bacillus anthracis. The drug is designed for combination with antibiotics and for preventing inhalational anthrax when alternative therapies aren't available. The drug is the result of a project that Human Genome Sciences, now owned by GSK, began working on in 2001 in response to terrorist anthrax attacks in the United States.

Inc. magazine named Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy as one of the country's top 100 job creators as part of the business magazine's inaugural Hire Power Awards. Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy cracked the list at No. 94 with the addition of 233 new positions over the past three years and came in at No. 5 in the company's home state of Michigan.

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — A national group representing state boards of pharmacy has announced its support for efforts to strengthen regulations on compounding pharmacies.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy said Wednesday that it would implement a four-part action plan centered around inspection of compounding pharmacies and sharing data from the inspections among boards of pharmacies around the country.

JERUSALEM — Xenon Pharmaceuticals is licensing an experimental pain drug to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a deal worth up to $376 million, not including royalties, the companies said.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Aetna and Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions on Tuesday announced an evidence-based program designed to improve cancer care in Michigan. This pathways initiative identifies clinical practices that improve cancer treatment and make it more affordable.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new use for a cancer drug made by Johnson & Johnson, the agency said Monday.

The FDA announced the approval of Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), made by J&J subsidiary Janssen Biotech, for men with castration-resistant prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, for use prior to receiving chemotherapy. The drug was already approved for castration-resistant prostate cancer in men who had already undergone chemotherapy treatment.

DALLAS — AffordRx.com is making a prescription discount card that offers savings of up to 75% at more than 56,000 pharmacies across the country available to all residents of the United States, the company said.

The company said the cards would be available without restrictions on membership and that there were no income requirements, age limitations or applications.

"We are excited to launch this program, potentially saving Americans millions of dollars on their prescription medication," AffordRx spokesman Dylan Marc said.

BOSTON — The state health department in Massachusetts has made changes to the state's pharmacy board and leveled sanctions against three pharmacies in the wake of a nationwide meningitis outbreak traced to a compounding pharmacy in the state, the department said.