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See what’s trending in pharmacy with a preview of the Total Pharmacy December issue.

In This Issue: Total Pharmacy December 2024

Articles

Denise Kelley, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP, joined Drug Topics to discuss various medications for chronic kidney disease and their common adverse reactions.

Q&A: Pharmacists’ Understanding of CKD Therapies, Adverse Effects | ASHP Midyear

A conversation with Nina Vadiei, PharmD, BCPP, clinical associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy at University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy and a clinical pharmacy specialist in psychiatry at the San Antonio State Hospital.

Psychiatric Pharmacist Working to Optimize Treatment, Improve Patient Safety

Kathryn Litten, PharmD, discussed the pharmacist’s role in helping patients manage metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Q&A: Importance of Managing Comorbidities for Patients with MASLD | ASHP Midyear

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1rem

Jay Holloway, PharmD, AAHIVP, Pharmacist with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, joined Drug Topics to discuss the role pharmacists play in providing care for people with HIV.

Q&A: How HIV Care Has Allowed Pharmacists to Practice at the Top of Their Licenses 

Jay Holloway, PharmD, AAHIVP, Pharmacist with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, discussed the ongoing developments impacting patients with HIV and their prescription drugs.

Q&A: Pharmacist on Medication Developments for People Living with HIV

Cassandra Esperant, PharmD, AAHIVP, discussed the ups and downs of her career journey as a clinical HIV pharmacist.

Specialty Pharmacist Transforms HIV Care Outside of the Pharmacy

Cassandra Esperant, PharmD, AAHIVP, leverages her expertise as a clinical pharmacist to advocate for the well-being of individuals with HIV.

Q&A: Insights on HIV Care, Pharmacists’ Expanding Role

HIV, PrEP, specialty pharmacy, specialty pharmacist

Meet the Specialty Pharmacist Championing HIV Care

In high school, Cassandra Esperant, PharmD, AAHIVP, told her chemistry teacher that she didn’t need his class because she’d be going to law school, driven by a desire to advocate for others and a belief that being an attorney was one of the only ways she could. But when she got to college, she shifted her studies to pre-pharmacy, quickly learning the role that pharmacists play in improving the lives of their patients.

“I realized that as a clinical pharmacist, we’re one of the patient’s number one advocates, so I get to channel my attorney hat,” she told 

 in an interview for American Pharmacists Month.

Now, as a credentialed HIV clinical pharmacist with the American Academy of HIV Medicine, Esperant finds herself in a position to champion patients' health. She understands and appreciates the impact she has on those she cares for—“How I interact with them determines how they proceed moving forward,” she says—and the opportunity to meet patients where they are.

Beyond her clinical practice, Esperant educates her followers on all-things HIV prevention through Instagram (@ThePrEPandHIVPharmacist). As the founder and CEO of PrEPRx, she extends her reach through public speaking engagements and public health consultations, ensuring that those in need of care have access to vital information and support.

Our coverage of American Pharmacists Month continues all October. To view all of our interviews, 

visit our American Pharmacists Month landing resource center

Videos

Cassandra Esperant, PharmD, AAHIVP, leverages her skills as a clinical pharmacist to champion the health of patients with HIV, both in her clinical practice and through education initiatives.

Total Pharmacy

Bedford 2

When asked if any recent or anticipated regulatory changes are poised to impact the distribution of specialty medications, Natalie Bedford, Senior Vice President of US Pharmaceutical Distribution Services at McKesson, had a simple response: “Surely.”

“All kidding aside, the distribution channel is extremely sensitive to both upstream and downstream pressures caused by policy pricing changes,” Bedford explained. “We’re always being informed of and paying close attention to whether there are new or potential policy changes that could impact our upstream and downstream customers.”

Within McKesson, a specialized policy team is tasked with paying close attention to these impacts. Before a change policy is implemented, the company works with manufacturing partners to understand what the impacts may be and what concerns they have, “so we can try to work together to have a solution [and] help minimize those impacts.

 at AXS24, the Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit, held April 28 to May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Click here for more of our coverage from AXS24.

The market is sensitive to both upstream and downstream pressures that impact drug pricing. 

Specialty Drug Distribution Sensitive to Regulatory Changes: Video

Bedford Specialty 1

In 2022, the financial growth associated with specialty drug products surpassed the growth of traditional drugs, representing a 51% share of total non-discounted drug spend.1 That’s no surprise, given the significant increase in product approvals over the last few decades.

Looking back at the specialty drug market, there were “maybe 10 specialty drugs on the market,” said Natalie Bedford, Senior Vice President of US Pharmaceutical Distribution Services at McKesson. By 2008, that number had reached 200. “Fast forward [to] today, there’s been an exponential growth and explosion of specialty drugs.

The largest growth, Bedford said, has been in the oncology market, a trend she predicts will continue. The reason is twofold: “One, because of existing products in the market that will continue to get additional indications to treat unmet needs,” and two, due to pipeline products coming to market “to treat where there is no medication.”

Neurology is another area where the specialty drug market is poised to expand.

Finally, Bedford touched on the role that precision medicine has played in boosting the pipeline. “Between cell and gene therapy [and] other new modalities, precision medicine is truly driving the need for new medicines to really treat all of these rare diseases,” she said. “There’s a dire need for these specialty drugs for patients.”

1. Biggs S, Long D. Insights into the 2023 US pharmaceutical market. IQVIA. July 25, 2023. Accessed May 6, 2024. 

https://www.iqvia.com/locations/united-states/blogs/2023/07/insights-into-the-2023-us-pharmaceutical-market

The specialty drug market has exploded, and will continue to grow across sectors such as oncology and neurology. 

Specialty Pharmacy

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