Specialty Pharmacy

TAMPA, Fla. — Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy CEO Phil Hagerman has joined the board of directors of the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy, the group said Tuesday.

The NASP also noted that Diplomat had joined it as a founding member. Diplomat is the largest privately-owned specialty pharmacy in the country, with revenues exceeding $1.1 billion in 2012.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — VoicePort today announced a finalized agreement to deploy their services with WellSpan Health, a new client located in York, Pa., offering a vast array of inpatient, outpatient, home health and physician services.

The company will install two of VoicePort's patient solutions: PharmaRemind patient notifications and Meducation prescription translation, education and written instruction service. Both innovative solutions will enter Wellspan Health's pharmacy work-flow in pursuit of delivering improved medication adherence for their pharmacy patients.

FLINT, Mich. — Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy has launched its new website, the company said Monday.

Diplomat said the website design had been in beta testing for the past several months, overseen by VP technology and marketing Jennifer Cretu.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A report on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday explored the aftermath of the nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to the New England Compounding Center that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has sickened 720 people in 20 states and led to 48 deaths.

WASHINGTON — Nearly 1,000 biotech drugs and vaccines for more than 100 diseases are currently under development, according to a new report.

SAN DIEGO — Early detection of a deadly brain infection that sometimes arises due to treatment of autoimmune disorders with immune-suppressing biotech drugs may improve survival, according to a new study.

The study, released Sunday and scheduled for presentation at the 65th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego, which starts next Saturday, found that early detection of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, may improve survival and disability levels.

MIAMI — Navarro Discount Pharmacy is promoting colon cancer screenings in the month of March under a partnership with a group focused on the disease, Navarro said Friday.

The regional retail pharmacy has partnered with StopColonCancerNow.com to promote the screenings, which screening guidelines advise adults older than 50 years to receive, or 45 years if they are African-American. According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for colon cancer is 90% when detected and treated in the earliest stage.

ST. LOUIS — While the country's spending on specialty drugs increased by 18.4% in 2012, spending on traditional drugs fell for the first time in 20 years, according to a report by Express Scripts.