Doctors trying to treat patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) — a serious type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that, if left untreated, may progress to cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis, cancer and possibly the need for a liver transplant — soon may have new options in their arsenal beyond promoting exercise and diet. The first-ever NASH drugs are expected to hit the U.S. market as early as 2020 to help address this increasingly prevalent, complex disease spawned largely by the obesity epidemic and surge of type 2 diabetes in the U.S., AIS Health reported.

Dieterich says the entry of first-ever NASH medications will "definitely" offer significant benefit to patients. "There's no question [the drugs will help] — in combination with diet and exercise," says Douglas Dieterich, M.D., director of the Institute for Liver Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System. "It will have to be the whole package."

Topics: Specialty, Industry Trends, Market Access, Product Release, Provider, Payer

MMIT on July 1 will rebrand Formulary Search as Coverage Search, a move that reflects the full portfolio of our capabilities, as well as the complex variances between pharmacy and medical benefit coverage, and the industry's shift toward increasingly restrictive coverage policies. You will be able to add a comprehensive new package on medical benefit coverage and policies, creating a more complete picture of the entire market access landscape.

New Medical Benefit View: "Previously, clients would think Formulary Search means formularies, so it means pharmacy benefit products only. But now we can help brands create a more complex strategy so that they can speak to coverage across benefit types," says Greg Lee, a product manager at MMIT. "This is a really important thing for our clients, because the way insurance companies are covering products — particularly physician-injected drugs, IV drugs and hospital-administered drugs — is changing, and insurance companies are getting more complex in how they create utilization management techniques on both benefits."

 

Topics: Market Access, Product Release

With the first therapy north of $1 million gaining FDA approval last month, payers likely will implement a variety of strategies to manage Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi), a one-time gene therapy from AveXis, Inc., a Novartis company. For now, many uncertainties exist with respect to the new treatment and what its place will be in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) care, AIS Health reported.

According to Lee Newcomer, M.D., principal at Lee N. Newcomer Consulting LLC, payers likely will implement "strict enforcement of the label restrictions, advisory panels to develop clinical criteria for therapy [and] highly specific provider networks to ensure that the therapies are given correctly."

 

Topics: Specialty, Industry Trends, Market Access, Product Release, Provider, Payer

The potential use of Invokana (canagliflozin) for chronic kidney disease as well as type 2 diabetes, its current indicated use, recently attracted national headlines. If Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s supplemental indication for its medication is approved by the FDA, "it would be the first new treatment for diabetic kidney disease in decades," the National Kidney Foundation said.

The kidney foundation points out that diabetes is a key risk factor for chronic kidney disease. The group says it anticipates strong uptake of Invokana by clinicians and payers facing "high costs and management challenges" in treating advanced kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes, AIS Health reported.

 

Topics: Product Release, Provider, Payer

A new generic alternative for GlaxoSmithKline's Advair Diskus (fluticasone/salmeterol) provides payers with the chance to better manage care in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition in which high out-of-pocket costs often lead to lower compliance and an increased risk of hospitalization, AIS Health reported.

Advair Diskus, a combination long-acting beta-agonist and an inhaled corticosteroid, has been one of the most common drugs used for COPD, a condition largely dominated by brand products. The generic, marketed by Mylan and approved Jan. 30, joins generics for two additional COPD devices: a generic for Ventolin HFA (albuterol) and one for Proair HFA (albuterol).

 

Topics: Industry Trends, Market Access, Product Release, Provider, Payer

The FDA's recent approval of the first medication specifically aimed at treating postpartum depression is drawing a favorable response from clinicians, while payers could face challenges.

PBM executives tell AIS Health that the postpartum depression drug, Zulresso (brexanolone) injection, is likely to be covered under the medical, not the pharmacy, side of the benefit.

 

Topics: Specialty, Industry Trends, Product Release, Provider, Payer

The potential use of Invokana (canagliflozin) for chronic kidney disease as well as type 2 diabetes, its current indicated use, recently attracted national headlines. If Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s supplemental indication for its medication is approved by the FDA, "it would be the first new treatment for diabetic kidney disease in decades," the National Kidney Foundation said.

The kidney foundation points out that diabetes is a key risk factor for chronic kidney disease. The group says it anticipates strong uptake of Invokana by clinicians and payers facing "high costs and management challenges" in treating advanced kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes, AIS Health reported.

 

Topics: Product Release, Provider, Payer

As innovations in digital capabilities continue to be used with various health care products, Proteus Digital Health, Inc. is developing a suite of what it terms digital medicines. And while the company has been working on such products for a few years, it recently came out with the first such product within the oncology space, AIS Health reported.

Proteus is partnering with Fairview Health Services and the University of Minnesota Health to offer oral capecitabine combined with an ingestible sensor to treat stage 3 and stage 4 colorectal cancer patients.

 

Topics: Specialty, Industry Trends, Market Access, Product Release, Data & Analytics

The FDA's recent approval of the first medication specifically aimed at treating postpartum depression is drawing a favorable response from clinicians, while payers could face challenges.

PBM executives tell AIS Health that the postpartum depression drug, Zulresso (brexanolone) injection, is likely to be covered under the medical, not the pharmacy, side of the benefit.

 

Topics: Specialty, Market Access, Product Release, Provider, Payer

With the FDA approving multiple novel new therapies over the past couple of years, we should expect to see more of the same moving forward. But that innovation is not cheap, and the pharmaceutical industry likely will continue to offer products at higher price points than ever before, AIS Health reported.

As payers struggle to rein in high specialty drug prices, many have turned to copay accumulator programs, and this trend shows no signs of slowing. "There was an increased focus on copay accumulator programs in 2018," comments Amy Nash, Pharm.D., president of RelianceRx, the specialty pharmacy affiliate of Independent Health. She tells AIS Health she expects to see "further refinement of copay accumulator programs from payers and additional strategies from pharma to prevent them."

 

Topics: Specialty, Industry Trends, Market Access, Product Release, Data & Analytics