Specialty Pharmacy

Elaine Jaffe, MD, National Institutes of Health (NIH) distinguished investigator at the National Cancer Institute at NIH, discusses points of note in the evolution of lymphoma classification during her clinical and investigational research on the subject.

Sonia Oskouei, PharmD, vice president of biosimilars at Cardinal Health, on the results of Cardinal Health’s assessment of the current biosimilars market published in the 2022 Biosimilars Report.

David DeRemer, PharmD, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA, a past-president on the board of Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA), discusses why a greater focus on colorectal cancer screening was important to highlight at the HOPA 2022 annual conference.

Dhivy is a levodopa/carbidopa combination formulation approved by the FDA in November 2021 for the treatment of Parkinson disease or manifestations due to viral or environmental exposures.

New therapies and combination regimens may allow a more tailored approach.

David DeRemer, PharmD, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA, a past-president on the board of Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA), discusses key takeaways from the HOPA 2022 annual conference.

The companies have decided to unblind the trial and perform no additional analyses for the OS endpoint because there was no clinical benefit observed in the doublet therapy arm.

The findings, published the New England Journal of Medicine, showed treatment with rilzabrutinib led to a rapid, durable increase in platelet count while supporting an acceptable safety profile.

Piqray is indicated in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal women, and men, with HR-positive/HER2-negative, PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test following progression on or after an endocrine-based regimen.

Sarah Wheeler, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy specialist in Hematology/Oncology at UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital, discusses how experience as a caregiver can help inform the work of an oncology pharmacist on the clinical care team.

Sarah Wheeler, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy specialist in Hematology/Oncology at UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital, discusses how oncology pharmacists with experience as a caregiver can utilize those skills while still honoring the boundaries of both themselves and their patients.

The first part of a series outlining 5 crucial steps so pharmacies can enhance patient engagement and lower operational costs.

Sarah Wheeler, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy specialist in Hematology/Oncology at UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital, discusses some of the unique struggles that come from being an oncology pharmacist and a caregiver.

Sarah Wheeler, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy specialist in Hematology/Oncology at UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital, discusses how oncology pharmacists can help their patients overcome some of the barriers patients with cancer may encounter during treatment.

Benyam Muluneh, PharmD, BCOP, CPP, assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, discusses his presentation at the HOPA 2022 annual conference on the Oral Chemotherapy Collaborative (OCC) and how it works to optimize care for patients taking oral anti-cancer agents.

Cabotegravir is the only current HIV-1 PrEP medication that does need to be taken daily.

Vusolimogene oderparepvec is in development for the treatment of multiple skin cancers either alone or in combination with anti-PD1 therapy.

Ponesimod (Ponvory) is indicated for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.

The investigational selective, covalent, and orally bioavailable KRASG12C¬ inhibitor shows a 57% confirmed overall response rate at the recommended dose of 200 mg twice daily.

Pharmacists should review the medications of patients with multiple sclerosis regularly to assess drug-drug interactions.

The FDA previously granted Fast Track Designation for the combination of lifileucel and pembrolizumab in metastatic melanoma.

Based on event-free survival and pathologic complete response results, the FDA approved nivolumab in combination with platinum-doublet chemotherapy in March 2022.

Results are from an exploratory analysis of 34 patients who received at least 1 dose after disease progression or suboptimal response with ruxolitinib monotherapy

Results show that 64% of individuals treated with lorlatinib were without disease progression after 3 years compared with about 19% of those treated with crizotinib (Xalkori).

Blue Earth Therapeutics will begin an open-label, multicenter trial to evaluate a next-generation radiopharmaceutical for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Abrocitinib (Cibinqo) is a Janus kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adults with refractory moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.

Clinical data from phase 1/2 LIBRETTO trial show evidence of meaningful clinical outcomes for patients, including those with difficult-to-treat brain metastases.

Sotorasib demonstrates clinical benefit and prolonged tumor response seen, with a 40.7% objective response rate.

Ravulizumab-cwvz (Ultomiris) produced statistically significant improvements in measures of functional activity, muscle strength, and quality of life in patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive generalized myasthenia gravis.

Biosimilars could save consumers more than $100 billion in the coming years.