Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System will soon deploy an AI-based technology that flags polypharmacy issues, or problems related to taking five or more medications. 

With $159.4 billion, CVS Health accounts for a fourth of the U.S. pharmacy industry, according to 2023 prescription dispensing revenue data compiled by Drug Channels. 

In the first quarter of 2024, the U.S. hit a 23-year record after logging 323 active drug shortages. And among GoodRx's list of the nation's 20 most popular therapies, half are in shortage. 

Two in five accredited specialty pharmacies are owned by hospitals and other healthcare providers, but the nation's three biggest pharmacy benefit managers accounted for 67% of specialty pharmacy revenue in 2023, according to Drug Channels. 

About nine months after the FDA fully approved an Alzheimer's drug for the first time, the medicine is trudging through insurance barriers and hesitations from potential patients, the Chicago Tribune reported April 12. 

Pfizer plans to lay off 119 workers at a facility in Everett, Wash., which the drugmaker acquired in its Seagen deal. 

WuXi AppTec, a drugmaker in China that manufactures multiple chemotherapies for U.S. patients, is facing scrutiny from lawmakers concerned about security threats, The New York Times reported April 15. 

In 2024, healthcare pharmacy executives are focused on standardizing their formularies and streamlining drug purchasing, according to 275 hospital pharmacy leaders surveyed by Bluesight. 

Janux Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, is considering selling the business and other options, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. 

The number of ongoing drug shortages in the U.S. is at its highest since 2001 — when the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists began tracking data. There are now 323 medications in low supply. 

The U.S. might soon see an approved respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for adults younger than 60. 

Biosimilars can now be substituted as part of regular formulary maintenance changes, according to CMS' Medicare Advantage and Part D Final Rule for 2025. However, the change could significantly increase patient cost sharing, according to an article on the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists website.

Three pharmacy benefit managers accounted for nearly 80% of all prescription claims handled in 2023, according to an April 9 report from the Drug Channels Institute.

A jury awarded $42.4 million to the estate of a patient who died after staff failed to get the patient's baclofen prescription filled in a timely manner, a case study posted on the American Pharmacy Association website said.

Two years after launching, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs now sells hundreds of generics and about 20 branded medications for a discounted rate. It also partners with hospitals, independent pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers. 

UFCW 3000, a union representing about 50,000 workers at health systems, retail stores and other businesses in three states, said it secured wage increases for some Kaiser Permanente employees. 

Acorda Therapeutics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 1. 

The average pharmacist's salary in the U.S. is $134,790, and 15 states and Washington, D.C., are above the average, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists partly welcomed HHS' 18-page policy recommendations for drug shortage strategies, but the organization said it "proposes concerning penalties."

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals is withdrawing its FDA-approved therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Relyvrio, from the market after a phase 3 study failure, the company said April 4.