In this Issue

Consumers buying homeopathic remedies base those decisions on two factors: products that are safe and efficacious. The products have to work, or they wouldn’t earn the repeat purchases that are helping to drive sales.

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)

Twenty years ago this month, I put on what was then my “lucky” tie, this horrible, neon yellow number from Banana Republic — it wore more like a bad Hawaiian shirt than a tie — and I started a new job as senior editor for OTCs and natural health at Drug Store News.

Sure, I have a lot less hair today than I did then, but I also have much better taste in ties.

The top three brands in this year’s list of breakthrough brands, defined as those brands either introduced within the 52 weeks ended Dec. 25, 2016, or those brands that experienced blockbuster incremental growth in that time frame, feature the leading meal-replacement solutions on the market today in Premier Protein, Clif Bar and SlimFast, according to IRI. A fourth brand — Quest Nutrition’s Quest Bars — also ranks high on the list. It’s reflective of the consumer need for products that embody an aspirational health- and-wellness direction that many U.S.

The graying of the baby boomers, an increased focus on supplementing healthier lifestyles and the steady stream of nasal corticosteroid brands making their way from prescription-only to the more value-oriented OTC aisle were just three significant drivers behind the growth of over-the-counter medicines in 2016.

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)

The road to a career at the intersection of business and politics may have started with a “mean impersonation” of our 37th president, the CHPA chief tells DSN.

With more Americans reaching their golden years and the country’s healthcare system stressing home care as a way to drive down costs, products to meet these consumers’ conditions are gaining more attention and increasingly finding their way into drug stores’ mix.

(To view the full Home Health Care Report, click here.)

Owen Mumford is releasing an insulin injection guide to better assist healthcare professionals in educating patients on healthy injection routines. Called “Injecting with Insulin: A Guide to Good Injection Technique,” the guide will be offered in both digital and print formats as early as this month.

(To view the full Home Health Care Report, click here.)

As 2016 drew to a close, the Food and Drug Administration gave a gift of sorts to drug makers looking to submit to the agency an application for approval of a biosimilar drug when it issued its final guidance, “Clinical Pharmacology Data to Support a Demonstration of Biosimilarity to a Reference Product.”

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)

The finalized guidance follows the draft guidance the agency issued in May 2014.