Specialty Pharmacy

HOLZKIRCHEN, Germany — Drug maker Sandoz has started a late-stage clinical trial of a biotech drug used to treat autoimmune disorders, the company said.

Sandoz, the generics division of Swiss drug maker Novartis, announced the start of a phase-3 clinical trial of biosimilar adalimumab. The drug is a version of AbbVie's Humira, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn's disease.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Patients who opt-in to medication synchronization programs offered through their community pharmacy average more than 100 additional days on therapy per year and are 30% more likely to take their medication as prescribed than patients not enrolled in a synchronization program, according to the results of a new study project released Wednesday that was conducted by the National Community Pharmacists Association.
 

NEW YORK — An educational program partially conceived by a group focused on lupus research is expected to receive $2 million through a congressional appropriations bill.

NEW YORK — New York state has begun to legalize medical use of marijuana, albeit in limited form, according to published reports.

Currently, 20 states and the District of Columbia allow the dispensing of marijuana for medical use, two of which — Colorado and Washington — have legalized recreational use, while Maryland allows medical use as a legal defense in criminal cases.

FLINT, Mich. — Diplomat has acquired a hemophilia-focused specialty pharmacy based in Connecticut, the specialty pharmacy company said Monday.

Diplomat announced that it had bought Enfield, Conn.-based American Homecare Federation, which provides pharmacy services for patients with hemophilia who depend on homecare throughout the United States. Financial terms were not disclosed.

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — A drug maker has started a program to find the genetic determinants of human disease and speed the discovery and development of new drugs. The program includes a five-year project that it said would be one of the largest of its kind in terms of the number of patients involved.

NEW YORK — Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan has signed into law a bill that will allow medical marijuana to be sold in pharmacies if the federal government legalizes it for that purpose, according to published reports.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved two drugs made by GlaxoSmithKline for use together in patients with advanced melanoma that can't be removed by surgery or has spread to other parts of the body, the agency said Friday.

The FDA announced the new approval for Mekinist (trametinib) and Tafinlar (dabrafenib). The agency originally approved the two drugs for use as single agents for the same indication in May 2013.