A fire broke out Aug. 21 at a facility that makes and exports active pharmaceutical ingredients for the U.S. and other countries. There were 17 deaths and 33 injuries from the blaze, according to an Aug. 22 report from The Times of India. 

Ridgewood, N.J.-based Valley Health System has opened the system's first compounding pharmacy. 

In a phase 3 trial spanning three years, weekly injections of tirzepatide reduced the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 94%, Eli Lilly said Aug. 20. 

The Board of Pharmacy Specialties is developing an exam for a new specialty pharmacy certification. 

Premier recently recognized six U.S. hospitals and health system pharmacies and one pharmacist through the company's 2024 Premier Pharmacy awards. 

Johnson & Johnson's oncology treatment regimen, Rybrevant (amivantamab-vmjw) and Lazcluze (lazertinib), is now approved as a first-line therapy, the drugmaker said Aug. 20. 

A context-aware ChatGPT might be of use in pharmacies, according to a recent study.

Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent is moving its outpatient pharmacy services to St. John Valley Pharmacy, an independently owned pharmacy in the area.

An alternative option to appendectomies is becoming more mainstream, The Washington Post reported Aug. 17. 

Gabapentin is FDA-approved for epileptic seizures and postherpetic neuralgia, which is lasting pain after a shingles infection. Its off-label uses are climbing as physicians discover new applications, The New York Times reported Aug. 17. 

Denmark-based Bavarian Nordic said Aug. 17 it plans to ramp up mpox vaccine manufacturing. 

Anecdotally, some physicians are getting more comfortable prescribing compounded versions of popular weight loss drugs Wegovy and Zepound, which are both in short supply, NBC News reported Aug. 16. 

Lykos Therapeutics, the manufacturer of midomafetamine (MDMA), which had been tested for PTSD treatment, will reduce its workforce by 75% after the FDA rejected the company's new drug application. 

Some patients are dose splitting their GLP-1 injection pens as they struggle to pay thousands of dollars for the diabetes and weight loss medications, The Atlantic reported Aug. 15. 

About two-thirds of providers recently told Premier their teams are spending more than 10 hours per week mitigating supply chain challenges and shortages.

Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly & Co. has sent cease-and-desist letters to U.S. healthcare providers demanding an end to the promotion and sale of copycat versions of the company's Mounjaro and Zepbound GLP-1 drugs, Bloomberg reported Aug. 15.

For the first time, the largest buyer of pharmaceuticals in the U.S. — Medicare, which covered more than 67 million people as of April — has bargaining power in an industry worth $640 billion. 

"Transparency," a growing buzzword in the pharmaceutical industry, is making another premiere at Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.

The first group of Walgreens employees are seeking to join a new national union of retail pharmacy professionals, MedPage Today reported Aug. 12.

After months of failed litigation from drugmakers, CMS released negotiated list prices for 10 of the country's most expensive drugs.