The FDA has granted accelerated approval to Pfizer's drug Elrexfio, which is intended to treat patients who have experienced relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, a presently incurable type of blood cancer, according to an Aug. 14 news release. 

Increasing instances of drug-resistant gonorrhea have sparked growing concerns among health experts, and now drugmakers GSK and Innoviva are inching closer to a new antibiotic solution, Bloomberg reported Aug. 10.

After a Massachusetts drug company paused its phase 1 study of a leukemia drug candidate in June following a study participant's death, the FDA put a clinical hold on the trial Aug. 11. 

HHS halted all research that involved human subjects at a New York City psychiatric hospital as the agency investigates a drug trial participant's suicide, The New York Times reported Aug. 10. 

Two decades after working in the kitchen at Martha's Vineyard Hospital, Valci Carvalho became the hospital's pharmacy director, The Vineyard Gazette reported Aug. 10. 

The list prices of the 25 most popular Medicare Part D drugs, on average, have more than tripled since they first entered the market, the AARP said Aug. 10. 

Denmark-based Novo Nordisk plans to acquire Inversago Pharma for up to $1.8 billion dollars, depending on whether the clinical-stage obesity drugmaker meets certain development and sales milestones. 

340B Health welcomed two hospital leaders — one pharmacy director and one chief medical officer — to its board of directors. 

The number of ongoing drug shortages is nearing an all-time high, causing most U.S. hospitals to inject 5 percent to 20 percent more funds into their pharmacy budgets. 

After three months of Novo Nordisk restricting supply to lower doses of its popular weight loss drug Wegovy, the company said Aug. 10 it will continue to limit its supply. 

The Defense Department has entered into an agreement with Valisure, an independent laboratory company, to advance a pharmaceutical quality risk assessment pilot study of generic drugs, according to an Aug. 8 news release.

Hospital pharmacy leaders are working on drug supply mitigation strategies every day, but they might be underutilizing their pharmacy technicians when it comes to spotting new shortages.

Three of Mon Health System's four hospitals are implementing a software that uses barcoding and cameras to verify sterile compounding doses, the Morgantown, W.Va.-based system said Aug. 9.

Emergent BioSolutions, a Gaithersburg, Md.-based company that makes multiple vaccines and achieved the first FDA approval for an over-the-counter naloxone nasal spray, plans to reduce operations at three facilities, lay off about 400 workers and cut its COO role. 

Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, a weight loss drug, showed a 20 percent reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events in a phase 3 trial, the drugmaker said Aug. 8.

After the FDA approved a Sage Therapeutics drug for postpartum depression but not major depression on Aug. 4, the company delayed announcing its list price and the CFO hinted that Sage is considering reducing its workforce and pipeline. 

Private equity firms and hospitals are investing in compounding pharmacies as hundreds of drug shortages afflict healthcare, The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 7. 

More than 90 percent of pharmacists at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Tampa, Fla., who are part of the American Federation of Government Employees passed a vote of no confidence in their leaders Aug. 4, the Tampa Bay Times reported. 

Neurology specialty drugs are expected to increase hospital pharmaceutical spend by 3.42 percent in 2024, according to a Vizient analysis. 

Leigh Briscoe-Dwyer, PharmD, the system pharmacy director of United Health Services' hospitals in Johnson City, N.Y., is now president of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.