CareMed selected to distribute Tarceva

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. — Specialty pharmacy CareMed Pharmaceutical Services has been added to a limited-distribution network for a cancer drug sold by Genentech and Astellas Pharma, the company said.

CareMed said it had been selected to supply the drug, Tarceva (erlotinib). The two drug makers stopped distributing the drug, a once-daily treatment for advanced lung cancer, through retail pharmacies at the beginning of July.

"CareMed is honored to be able to continue supplying our patients with Tarceva," CareMed SVP sales and marketing John Witkowski said. "In 2013, the American Cancer Society estimates 228,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer, with [non-small cell lung cancer] accounting for 85% of lung cancer cases. Of these, the majority of people diagnosed will already be in an advanced stage of the disease."