2015 - Pharmacist Digest

U.N.: Progress on reducing global maternal mortality has stalled since 2015

STAT

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

The progress the world has made in reducing maternal mortality has stalled in recent years, with some regions — including Europe and Northern America — backsliding since 2015, according to a new report from United Nations agencies.

With placenta-on-a-chip, researchers hope to gauge how drugs and toxins impact pregnancy

STAT

JUNE 13, 2024

Early in her pregnancy in 2015, Nicole Hashemi wanted to know how much caffeine was safe for her to consume. “I was actually advised not to drink a lot of caffeine,” Hashemi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, told STAT.

Opinion: When life mirrors research: What a fall on the ice taught me about being Black and in pain

STAT

AUGUST 7, 2024

dissertation one day in 2015, I slipped and fell on Iowa’s formidable winter ice. As I hurried to an important meeting about my Ph.D. I quickly jumped up to prevent anyone from seeing me on the ground and got into my car. The immediate, excruciating pain told me that something really bad had happened.

Webinars

From Payroll Pains to Growth Gains: Streamlining Payroll & HR for Success

MORE WEBINARS

Opinion: In drug development, diversity must be extended to preclinical research

STAT

AUGUST 22, 2024

In 2015, the FDA began reporting on the representation of individuals in clinical trials, with the hope that raising awareness would drive meaningful change. Lack of diversity occurs at all levels of the pharmaceutical ecosystem, from the makeup of C-suite and research staffs to participation in clinical trials.

Drug Development

STAT+: The effort to reform physician pay is set to pit primary care docs against highly paid specialists

STAT

JULY 15, 2024

This year, Congress began considering changes to the Medicare physician pay system for the first time since creating the current version in 2015. Committees in the House and Senate have held hearings on the matter, including the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which recently published a 30-page paper on potential changes.

STAT’s Inaugural Diversity Report and Commitment to a Workplace of Diversity and Inclusion

STAT

JULY 6, 2023

Here, we share the self-reported gender and racial/ethnic demographics of our staff from STAT’s inception in 2015 through 2022. Snapshot of our findings In 2015, women were underrepresented on staff and in management. The percentage of the entire staff who are people of color has doubled since 2015, growing from 15% to 31%.

STAT+: CVS and its PBM agree to pay $45 million to Illinois for failing to pass drug rebates

STAT

JULY 23, 2024

This arrangement was noted in a contract that began in 2015 with the Illinois Department of Central Management Services. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul began investigating CVS Caremark over concerns that rebates were not being passed back to the state, according to a June 24, 2024, settlement agreement between the state and the PBM.

Documentation

Zuckerberg and Chan announce a New York biohub to build disease-fighting cellular machines

STAT

OCTOBER 18, 2023

The new initiative, publicly revealed at the 2023 STAT Summit and previewed exclusively to STAT, is the latest program from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, or CZI, a company the couple founded in 2015 to help cure, prevent, or manage all disease by 2100. Read the rest…

STAT+: Illumina board agrees to spin off Grail, as divestment plans proceed

STAT

JUNE 3, 2024

It’s the second time Illumina has spun off Grail, which initially began as a unit within the DNA sequencing giant in 2015. Illumina will retain a 14.5% stake in the company, which will trade under the ticker $GRAL. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

On the road to eliminate rabies, Gavi announces plan to improve human vaccination

STAT

JUNE 18, 2024

Around the world, the viral infection kills about 70,000 people a year — and since as early as 2015, groups including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have had plans to shore up vaccine efforts to reduce the number. Rabies has been in global health’s crosshairs for years.

Vaccines

STAT+: Grail, aiming to launch a blood test for cancer, faces host of challenges as it debuts on Nasdaq

STAT

JUNE 24, 2024

Grail was spun out by the DNA sequencing giant Illumina in 2015. On Tuesday, shares of Grail, the liquid biopsy company that hopes that its test, Galleri, will be widely used to screen for cancer, will become a publicly traded stock (with the ticker GRAL) that any investor can buy or sell on the Nasdaq.

Exercise is good for health — but why? A study in rats offers insight

STAT

MAY 1, 2024

To answer those questions, researchers launched a large, 10-year study in 2015 to understand the biological impact of physical activity in both rats and humans. Yet science doesn’t have a clear understanding of what makes moving so good for us, including what molecular mechanisms are activated by exercise.

STAT+: Value-based payment is getting renewed attention. What it means isn’t getting any clearer

STAT

MAY 30, 2024

Lawmakers are considering changes to the way Medicare pays doctors for the first time since Congress passed a law in 2015 that leaned heavily on value-based payment. A key House committee took up the matter last fall.

Hospitals

STAT+: UnitedHealth executive to head health insurance group AHIP

STAT

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Notably, UnitedHealth group is not a member of AHIP after the company left in 2015. AHIP has selected Mike Tuffin, who’s currently UnitedHealth’s senior vice president for external affairs and head of U.S. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

STAT+: A Q&A with the CEO of CRISPR Therapeutics on a historic approval and the road ahead

STAT

DECEMBER 8, 2023

The former McKinsey partner joined CRISPR Therapeutics in 2015 as its chief business officer. With the approval of Casgevy , the world’s first gene-edited therapy and a potential cure for sickle cell disease, CRISPR Therapeutics won the race. Samarth “Sam” Kulkarni has been there from almost the beginning.

STAT+: New NIH head says government has fallen behind pharma on clinical trials

STAT

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

” A Johns Hopkins University study published in 2015 showed that the pharmaceutical industry funds six times more clinical trials than the government. “If you go and look at the number of people who go on pharma-sponsored trials, it’s just this commitment and this increase.”

Mallinckrodt sells Therakos unit on at a discount

pharmaphorum

AUGUST 6, 2024

Mallinckrodt agrees to sell Therakos to private equity firm CVC $925m, well below the $1.33bn it paid for the business in 2015

STAT+: Boston Scientific to buy vascular device maker for $1.16 billion

STAT

JUNE 18, 2024

The technology earned Food and Drug Administration approval in 2015. Silk Road Medical’s devices are the only commercially available products for this specific procedure, called transcarotid artery revascularization. Other big players in the vascular device world are LeMaitre Vascular and Baxter.

STAT+: New insights into how tumor cells hijack brain plasticity to drive cancer

STAT

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

First reported in Cell in 2015, research led by Stanford neuro-oncologist Michelle Monje showed that active nerve cells could promote the growth of high-grade gliomas, a form of brain cancer with a poor prognosis.

STAT+: Nine in 10 health care companies with financial stress are owned by private equity

STAT

DECEMBER 14, 2022

That’s compared with just 4% at the end of 2015. Among the 193 North American health care companies Moody’s rates, the agency had placed almost 18% at or below its rating that indicates credit stress, B3 negative, as of Nov. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

Hospitals

STAT+: Zuckerberg and Chan on track to put $50 billion toward science: ‘That’s the trajectory we’re on’

STAT

OCTOBER 19, 2023

In 2015, when the self-described science nerds pledged 99 percent of their Facebook fortune to philanthropic causes over their lifetimes, they did not specify how they might spread their wealth.

Compounding

STAT+: Researchers devise new strategies to overcome a key CRISPR flaw

STAT

MARCH 22, 2023

Since those first 2015 papers, dozens more have been published and multiple startups have launched, spurred by the hope that CRISPR could outperform the gene therapy approaches now nearing approval.

Two-thirds of pharmacies slash opening hours amid funding pressures

The Pharmacist

JUNE 20, 2024

Almost two-thirds of pharmacies in England have decreased their opening hours since 2015, latest analysis from the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has suggested. The research, based on a sample of 110 pharmacies, found that on average there has been a 6.1-hour hour (10%) reduction in opening hours for every pharmacy.

Community Pharmacies

STAT+: ‘Skinny labels’ on generic medicines saved Medicare $15 billion over a recent six-year period

STAT

APRIL 30, 2024

A controversial provision of a federal law designed to speed copycat drugs to market and foster competition saved Medicare Part D nearly $15 billion from 2015 to 2021 on just 15 medicines during that period, according to a new analysis.

Labelling

Labelling Generic Medicine Biosimilars

STAT+: Unicorn down: Following layoffs, Biofourmis CEO quietly departs

STAT

AUGUST 30, 2023

Founded in 2015, Biofourmis has been developing a dizzying array of tech-enabled care offerings, including home-based care services for hospitals, clinical trials support for biopharma companies, and a pipeline of software-based interventions for heart failure and other conditions. The Boston-based company was valued at $1.3

Hospitals

Opinion: Moving from crisis response to crisis prevention in U.S. mental health systems

STAT

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

People with unmet mental health needs are 16 times more likely to be killed by police, and a quarter of all those killed by police since 2015 were perceived to be suffering from a mental health crisis. Meanwhile, there is now an historic amount of money flowing through the mental health industry, and the U.S.

STAT+: Stephen Quake on the Chan Zuckerberg quest to cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by 2100

STAT

JUNE 7, 2024

He’s also head of science for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, or CZI, a company Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan founded in 2015 with the expressed intent to help “cure, prevent or manage all diseases by the end of this century.”

Opinion: Starting breast cancer screening at 40 saved my life

STAT

MAY 17, 2023

In 2015, the year I turned 40, the American Cancer Society updated its guidelines for breast cancer screenings. Instead of urging women to get mammograms beginning at 40, it would now recommend yearly mammograms beginning at age 45, and then every two years from age 55 on. I was greatly relieved by this news.

New IQVIA research reveals growing trend as pharma embraces combined PV solutions

Outsourcing Pharma

APRIL 17, 2024

Archana Hegde joined IQVIA in 2015 and has been in various leadership roles implementing technology solutions to support critical business processes.

STAT+: Evelo Biosciences, a microbiome company launched by Flagship, shuts down

STAT

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

launched in 2015 and was one of the first companies in the microbiome field, which seeks to treat disease by leveraging bacteria naturally found in and around the body. The biotech, which was based in Cambridge, Mass.,

STAT+: Former J&J exec, an in-demand free agent, takes the helm at privately held FogPharma

STAT

MARCH 30, 2023

company that spun out of the lab of Harvard University biologist Greg Verdine in 2015. Mammen, previously a candidate for the top job at Biogen , will take over as chairman, president, and CEO of FogPharma, a Cambridge, Mass.,

STAT+: An exit interview with Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio

STAT

OCTOBER 30, 2023

When Caforio took over in May 2015, Bristol was known as a big pharmaceutical firm with the high-flying stock of a biotechnology company, largely due to its role as the company that brought cancer immunotherapy to market. It’s changing of the guard time at pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb.

Chemotherapy

PCIM&H recieves key ISO/SO IMS certifications

Express Pharma

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

PCIM&H has been awarded IS/ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management System (QMS), IS/ISO 14001:2015 for Environmental Management System (EMS) and IS/ISO 45001:2018 for Occupational Health & Safety Management System (OHSMS).

Women in Science: Dr Laura Trotta – ‘I joined CluePoints because of the research but also the mindset’

Outsourcing Pharma

APRIL 3, 2024

Dr Laura Trotta joined CluePoints in 2015 and moved into her current role as vice president of research in January 2022, where she leads a team of research scientists responsible for developing new statistical and machine learning algorithms to assess the quality of clinical trial data.

STAT+: Brazil dismisses antitrust complaint against Gilead over pricing for a hepatitis C drug

STAT

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

This purportedly contributed to nearly 6,000 deaths from the disease between 2015 and 2017, according to documents filed with the Administrative Council for Economic Defense. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

Documentation

Documentation Drug Pricing

STAT+: Medicare Part D plans authorized opioid prescriptions for cancer pain — to people without cancer

STAT

MARCH 1, 2023

Between July 2015 and December 2019, Medicare Part D plans covered more than 7,500 prescriptions for so-called TIRF opioid painkillers, which contain fentanyl and are administered through the nose or mouth.

New concerns about a paper co-authored by Stanford president prompt journal to take a ‘closer look’

STAT

DECEMBER 5, 2022

And a journal spokesperson confirmed that Tessier-Lavigne contacted Cell about those issues in 2015. Minor concerns had been raised about alleged alterations in three images in this paper in the past. At the time, the editors determined that no action was warranted.

Leadership Appointments at RQM+

Pharmafile

AUGUST 28, 2024

Ronnie Mahofski joined the RQM+ team in 2015 where he excelled in key roles within Business […] The post Leadership Appointments at RQM+ appeared first on Pharmafile. Both Ronnie Mahofski and Kevin Rowland are promoted to executive vice president and general manager.

STAT+: ‘Skinny labels’ on biosimilar medicines saved Medicare $1.5 billion over a recent five-year period

STAT

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

billion from 2015 to 2020 — or nearly 5% of the $30.2 A hotly contested provision of a federal law designed to speed copycat drugs to market and foster competition saved Medicare $1.5 billion spent by the health care program — on just five medicines during that period, according to a new analysis.

Labelling

Labelling Biosimilars Drug Pricing

Misdiagnoses cost the U.S. 800,000 deaths and serious disabilities every year, study finds

STAT

JULY 21, 2023

Yet so far there have been few attempts to quantify misdiagnoses in terms of deaths and permanent disability, and the full scale of their impact has been underestimated by the medical community, according to a 2015 report by the National Academy of Medicine. A new study, published this week in BMJ , finally addresses that gap.

Opinion: Market share isn’t the only metric for biosimilars’ success

STAT

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

the first biosimilar was launched in September 2015. I believe there are other metrics, like cost savings or signs of greater patient access, that should also be used to define biosimilars’ successes or failures. In the U.S., As I write this, there are 38 FDA-approved biosimilars ; 22 of them are commercially available.

Biosimilars

Biosimilars Diabetes Drug Pricing

Pharmacy closures rising amid workforce and funding gaps, CCA finds

The Pharmacist

NOVEMBER 23, 2023

The number of community pharmacies in England is down by 1,008 compared with 2015, according to a new report from the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA). The CCA also found that the rate of net closures is increasing, with an average loss of eight pharmacies per week.

Community Pharmacies

Number of potentially addictive drugs prescribed nearly unchanged in seven years

The Pharmacist

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

The number of dependency forming medicines prescribed in England has decreased by just 1% since 2015 – when the All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence was launched to address the growing problem of prescribed drug dependence.

STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about a CVS deal with Illinois, a Pfizer hemophilia therapy, and more

STAT

JULY 24, 2024

This arrangement was noted in a contract that began in 2015 with the Illinois Department of Central Management Services. Pfizer maintained that its gene therapy for hemophilia A successfully reduced patient bleeds for at least 15 months in a large Phase 3 trial , STAT says.

Documentation

U.N.: Progress on reducing global maternal mortality has stalled since 2015

With placenta-on-a-chip, researchers hope to gauge how drugs and toxins impact pregnancy

Webinars

Trending Sources

Opinion: When life mirrors research: What a fall on the ice taught me about being Black and in pain

Webinars

Opinion: In drug development, diversity must be extended to preclinical research

STAT+: The effort to reform physician pay is set to pit primary care docs against highly paid specialists

STAT’s Inaugural Diversity Report and Commitment to a Workplace of Diversity and Inclusion

STAT+: CVS and its PBM agree to pay $45 million to Illinois for failing to pass drug rebates

Zuckerberg and Chan announce a New York biohub to build disease-fighting cellular machines

STAT+: Illumina board agrees to spin off Grail, as divestment plans proceed

On the road to eliminate rabies, Gavi announces plan to improve human vaccination

STAT+: Grail, aiming to launch a blood test for cancer, faces host of challenges as it debuts on Nasdaq

Exercise is good for health — but why? A study in rats offers insight

STAT+: Value-based payment is getting renewed attention. What it means isn’t getting any clearer

STAT+: UnitedHealth executive to head health insurance group AHIP

STAT+: A Q&A with the CEO of CRISPR Therapeutics on a historic approval and the road ahead

STAT+: New NIH head says government has fallen behind pharma on clinical trials

Mallinckrodt sells Therakos unit on at a discount

STAT+: Boston Scientific to buy vascular device maker for $1.16 billion

STAT+: New insights into how tumor cells hijack brain plasticity to drive cancer

STAT+: Nine in 10 health care companies with financial stress are owned by private equity

STAT+: Zuckerberg and Chan on track to put $50 billion toward science: ‘That’s the trajectory we’re on’

STAT+: Researchers devise new strategies to overcome a key CRISPR flaw

Two-thirds of pharmacies slash opening hours amid funding pressures

STAT+: ‘Skinny labels’ on generic medicines saved Medicare $15 billion over a recent six-year period

STAT+: Unicorn down: Following layoffs, Biofourmis CEO quietly departs

Opinion: Moving from crisis response to crisis prevention in U.S. mental health systems

STAT+: Stephen Quake on the Chan Zuckerberg quest to cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by 2100

Opinion: Starting breast cancer screening at 40 saved my life

New IQVIA research reveals growing trend as pharma embraces combined PV solutions

STAT+: Evelo Biosciences, a microbiome company launched by Flagship, shuts down

STAT+: Former J&J exec, an in-demand free agent, takes the helm at privately held FogPharma

STAT+: An exit interview with Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio

PCIM&H recieves key ISO/SO IMS certifications

Women in Science: Dr Laura Trotta – ‘I joined CluePoints because of the research but also the mindset’

STAT+: Brazil dismisses antitrust complaint against Gilead over pricing for a hepatitis C drug

STAT+: Medicare Part D plans authorized opioid prescriptions for cancer pain — to people without cancer

New concerns about a paper co-authored by Stanford president prompt journal to take a ‘closer look’

Leadership Appointments at RQM+

STAT+: ‘Skinny labels’ on biosimilar medicines saved Medicare $1.5 billion over a recent five-year period

Misdiagnoses cost the U.S. 800,000 deaths and serious disabilities every year, study finds

Opinion: Market share isn’t the only metric for biosimilars’ success

Pharmacy closures rising amid workforce and funding gaps, CCA finds

Number of potentially addictive drugs prescribed nearly unchanged in seven years

STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about a CVS deal with Illinois, a Pfizer hemophilia therapy, and more

Stay Connected