Prime pharmacists address AMCP virtual conference as keynote speakers

The specialty pharmaceutical market continues to grow at an outstanding rate offering new treatment options and the promise of improved outcomes. Prime pharmacists Catherine Starner, PharmD and Nicole Kjesbo, Pharm D, took a deep dive into a select number of potential high cost, high uptake specialty drugs as keynote speakers at the spring 2021 virtual Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) conference in front of an online crowd of approximately 600 attendees.

To determine the pipeline and forecast, Starner and Kjesbo consider cost, population/prevalence and management strategies – such as utilization management, prior authorizations and quantity limits. For inclusion on the Watch List, Prime generally focuses on drugs that are submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have a high anticipated spend based on per member per month (PMPM). Prime forecasts drugs on both medical and pharmacy benefits to help manage total drug spend for its health plan clients.

Starner and Kjesbo focused on pipeline and forecasting for:

While gene therapy approvals have been few and far between, there are more on the horizon. Possible gene therapy reviews include:

• Eladocagene exuparvovec, PTC Therapeutics – aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency
• SRP-9001, Sarepta Therapeutics – Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)
• AMT-061 (etranacogene dezaparvovec), uniQure – hemophilia B

Prime publishes monthly decisions expected from the FDA and monthly pipelines.