AJMC® in the Press, May 24, 2019

An article from TechnoBleak included an article published in a supplement to The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®). The article, “Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: The Role of the Pharmacy Benefit Manager in Providing Access to Effective, High-Value Care,” explored the high costs associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and the role of pharmacy benefit managers in managing the cost and appropriate utilization of new treatments through disease management programs, negotiated discounts and rebates, improved adherence to treatment recommendations, and benefit design to optimize patient care.

The National Pharmaceutical Council’s Tuesday and Wednesday CER Daily Newsfeeds included AJMC^®’s coverage of the ISPOR 2019 annual meeting. The article, “The Imperfect QALY: How It’s Used Depends on Where You Enter Value Discussions,” covered a session in which panelists discussed the good and the bad about the quality-adjusted life year metric from their various perspectives. The newsfeeds also included the article, “Bringing Financial Theory Into the Value Equation of Future Cutting-Edge Therapies,” which covered a session that discussed the work of a researcher who recently published part of her dissertation on real option value, as used in pharmaceutical assessment, as well as an AJMC^® interview with Paul Melmeyer, director of Federal Policy, National Organization for Rare Disorders, who discussed the importance of value assessments taking into account the unique characteristics of a disease.

Thursday’s newsfeed included an article from AJMC^®’s sister site The Center for Biosimilars^®. The article, “Health Canada Approves Its First Biosimilar Trastuzumab, Ogivri,” covered Health Canada’s approval of Mylan and Biocon’s trastuzumab biosimilar Ogivri, referencing Herceptin, which carries indications for HER2-positive breast cancer and HER2-positive metastatic stomach cancer.