Pharmaceutical Commerce - January/February 2012

The pioneering firms that installed serialization and track-and-trace systems are being joined by a fast follower crowd, but an industry-wide commitment is still in the future

But will anti-terrorism concerns trump commercial interests?

Armada Health Care streamlines prior auth with free ApproveRx service

New guidelines prepare for eventual item-level serialization, while embodying FDA guidance for barcoded hospital-supply products

Company is bringing its expertise from outside life sciences

Aim is to reduce ‘doctor shopping’ for prescriptions, and to better monitor patients and addicts’ health; potential system highlights data availability

Purchase of Pieffe Group, combined with new facility launches, brings UPS capacity nearly to 5 million sq.ft. worldwide; more expected in 2012

New edition of 'The Role of Distributors,' plus a new report on specialty pharmaceutical distribution, highlight distributors’ roles in healthcare

Analysis combines financial and operational performance, and industry reputation, among manufacturers, distributors and healthcare systems

Pharma companies are beginning to staff up internally—in part out of dissatisfaction with the capabilities of outside marketing agencies they employ

Home infusion association gathers member data, measuring variations in business practices

Preview of annual PwC survey finds that disease foundations and NGOs are a growing part of biotech investment

More reshuffling of healthcare-analytics market is in store

Rapidly rising healthcare-products trade is almost being matched by increased regulatory scrutiny

With Rx-360 already at critical mass and delivering results, the call is out for more participation

The 'Sunshine Act' provisions of the Affordable Care Act require records to be kept beginning Jan. 1

PCMA study estimates additional $32 billion in added healthcare costs through 2021; coupons 'lure consumers to switch from generics to expensive brands'

White paper points out the drop in pipeline performance; suggests a new direction is necessary

The long-recommended practice of shared data and plans between biopharma companies and their contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) is beginning to take hold

‘Class of Trade’ is a murky element of contracts and channel analytics that can have important legal implications

But the global picture is sunny as most of the global market growth benefits the generic makers

The proposed federal National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences holds promise for drug development

The basic principle is: say as little as possible in public—and document what is said privately

Manufacturers will share a common access program