Snorting your vaccine?

It makes sense, when you think about it — if you’re protecting against respiratory viruses, you want that protection in the lungs. So why not breath in a vaccine so it goes straight to where it’s needed?

That was the thinking of Chinese scientists who developed not a nasal spray vaccine, but — in a possible fit of ’80s nostalgia — an inhaled powder.

Tomorrow’s vaccine clinic

It sounds science-y enough — a “a single-dose, dry powder, inhalable vaccine platform using nano-micro composite multilevel structures.” And their study was published in Nature, so it’s serious stuff.

It’s better, they say, for several reasons. Intramuscular injection “fails to trigger a mucosal immune response and establish a robust immune barrier in the respiratory tract.” Liquid vaccines can take time to be reformulated, and they also have strict storage needs too.

In contrast, their “nano-micro composite structure” powder is flexible, delivers the meds where they’re needed, and can be shipped and stored easily. Just be ready to explain all that to customs officials.

CMS to PBMs: Please be nice to pharmacies

With the new ban on PBM clawback in effect, CMS has heard from pharmacies about fears that PBMs will reduce up-front payments to make up for what they can’t get later. So the agency asked, politely, that PBMs work out the deals ahead of time to avoid giving pharmacies some nasty shocks.

We continue to hear urgent concerns from pharmacies, and we strongly encourage Part D plan sponsors and their PBMs to make necessary cash flow arrangements with network pharmacies in preparation for these upcoming changes.

In addition, we will closely monitor plan compliance with pharmacy access and prompt payment standards to ensure that all people with Medicare Part D continue to have access to pharmacies and medications.

But the letter was more than just a friendly suggestion that PBMs play nice. It was also a warning that CMS has been hearing of other payment issues, such as pharmacies not been reimbursed properly for vaccines or birth control. It included what in government-speak was a pretty clear warning:

We urge plans and PBMs to engage in sustainable and fair practices with all pharmacies — not just pharmacies owned by PBMs — and we are closely monitoring plan compliance with CMS network adequacy standards and other requirements.

Think of the foundation before the year ends

The Georgia Pharmacy Foundation usually does its work quietly in the background, but it does a lot of it. It’s how GPhA members can give back to the profession, help fellow pharmacy pros in need, and help future pharmacists get a boost in their careers.

Foundation Chairman Thomas Sherrer lays out all the good the foundation has done this year — a reminder of what we can accomplish and an invitation to help before the year ends.

Read his message here, and please…

Revving up melanoma treatment

Moderna has developed an mRNA-based treatment that seriously boosts Keytruda’s effectiveness against melanoma — we’re talking a 49% improvement over Keytruda alone.

The article incorrectly calls it a vaccine, probably because it uses mRNA technology, but Moderna’s all-but-unreadable press release calls it “individualized neoantigen therapy.” Call it what you want, it’s going into phase-3 trials and it’s got an FDA breakthrough-therapy blessing. Considering that melanoma kills nearly 8,000 Americans a year, it’s a Very Good Thing.

Healthcare costs twist

Here’s an unexpected perspective on healthcare costs in the US of A: When you look at what insurance companies actually pay for it, rather than list prices, the cost has risen less than inflation.

US inflation was about 1.9% for the past 9 months. Meanwhile — according to data compiled by Turquoise Health — the prices for CMS’s 500 “shoppable services” rose only 2.0% over that same period.

There were some significant price variations among specific services, though. For example, the price for chickenpox vaccines rose by about 30%, as did the price for measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. On the other hand,the prices for allergy tests, vaginal delivery of placentas and off-hours medical services actually decreased.

The report was possible because of CMS’s price transparency rule, in place since 2021, which allowed Turquoise to compare prices.

The link above goes to the news story. For the full report from Turquoise click here.

Making a baby: Go dry, guys

Gentlemen, if you’re planning to have a baby with your special lady, here’s a bit of advice: Stopping drinking at least a month before buying flowers and cuing up the Barry White. Your sperm will appreciate it.

Texas A&M researchers already knew that alcohol affects sperm quality, but now they’ve learned that withdrawal can also be an issue. The Aggies found is that “it takes much longer than previously believed, longer than a month, for the effects of alcohol consumption to leave the father’s sperm.”

“During withdrawal, the liver experiences perpetual oxidative stress […] The reproductive system interprets that signal and says, ‘Oh, we are living in an environment that has a really strong oxidative stressor in it. I need to program the offspring to be able to adapt to that kind of environment’.”

Those adaptations may have helped a couple of hundred thousand years ago, but today they might lead to issues as serious as fetal alcohol syndrome, so you definitely want your little buddies to be at their best before dimming the lights.