There is growing awareness of the problems and pitfalls with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)
in the United States health care system. Contracted by insurance carriers to negotiate on their
behalf with pharmaceutical companies, these ‘middle men’ corporations have quietly become an
unavoidable part of our nation’s health care system.
Based on data from the phase III SPARTAN trial (ARN-509-003), apalutamide (ARN-509) has been granted a priority review by the FDA for the treatment of patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), according to Janssen Biotech, the manufacturer of the next-generation oral androgen receptor inhibitor.
Janssen Biotech has submitted a New Drug Application to the US Food & Drug Administration for the approval of apalutamide (formerly ARN-509) in the treatment of non-metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC).
first-line pembrolizumab (Keytruda) produced durable responses in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced and unresectable or metastatic urothelial cancer in the phase II KEYNOTE-052 trial.
The 340B Drug Discount Program is an innocent-sounding program with the best of intentions. But behind it lies a classic tale of government run amok. After 25 years, this critically important safety net for patients in need has been overrun by some “corporate” hospitals that masquerade as nonprofits. While these bad actors make a killing off of 340B, the very patients it was intended to benefit suffer — and all of us taxpayers foot the bill.
