Cath Lab Digest

Atlanta—With the introduction of several new therapies, the treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) has gone through a dramatic shift in recent years. By the end of the decade, the market for prostate cancer is expected to double, with the new agents and more in the pipeline playing an expanded role in helping patients.

Atlanta—Although <1% of patients use specialty medications, they account for 15% of drug spending. The trend is expected to continue, as numerous expensive specialty drugs have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and many more are in the pipeline.

Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, senior clinical consultant for emerging therapeutics at Express Scripts, Inc, spoke about the topic at a Contemporary Issues session at the AMCP meeting titled Specialty Pharmaceuticals Pipeline Update.

Atlanta—During a Managed Care Essentials session at the AMCP meeting, Kathleen Thompson, manager of total rewards, Matthews International, and Mara Pawlis, senior analytic consultant, CVS Caremark, presented Results of a PBM/Employer Strategic Pharmacy Benefit Partnership. The transition by Matthews International, a prominent product marketing company, to a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) plan was used as a case study to highlight the potential value of PBM plans.

Atlanta—The Partnership for Patients, a public–private initiative to improve hospital care and transitions of care, was launched in April 2011 by Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, and Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The partnership is committed to reducing preventable hospital-acquired conditions by 40% compared with 2010 levels and decreasing preventable complications during transitions of care by 20% compared with 2010 levels.

Atlanta—Of the medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010 and 2011, many are specialty, biologic, and oncology treatments, making it especially important for healthcare plans to establish reproducible and transparent methods for assessing the value of these emerging therapies. At a Managed Care Essentials session at the AMCP meeting, speakers addressed the issue of value assessment in a presentation titled “Evidence-Based Value Analysis of Mew Medications: 2011 Update.”