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Alan Franciscus

Editor-in-Chief

HCV Advocate



Friday, June 19, 2015

Diplomat expands hepatitis C specialty services with acquisition of Burman's Specialty Pharmacy

FLINT, Mich., June 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. (NYSE: DPLO) announced today it has acquired Burman's Specialty Pharmacy (Burman's). Burman's, located in the greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, is a provider of individualized patient care with a primary focus on the challenging condition of hepatitis C.

"Burman's shares our strong commitment to patient care," said Phil Hagerman, Diplomat CEO and Chairman. "We acquired Burman's to enhance our targeted clinical management programs, utilize its innovative hepatitis C technology platform and strong payor network, and increase our presence in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region."

Steve Burman, President and CEO of Burman's, is pleased to partner with Diplomat to continue its history of improving patient results by continually monitoring treatment and ensuring patient compliance. Burman's enhances therapy management through its proprietary software platform HealthTrac, specifically designed to navigate the complexities of hepatitis C therapy and allow pharmacists and providers to collaborate on patient care.

"According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 3.2 million people in the United States are living with chronic hepatitis C infection," said Hagerman. "We believe the HealthTrac technology will significantly expand our hepatitis C services across our national footprint."

"Diplomat's patient-centric focus echoes our own approach," said Burman. "We pride ourselves on improving patient care with innovative technology. HealthTrac opens the lines of communication between all healthcare professionals involved to improve treatment efficiency in an effort to both improve results and reduce costs. Diplomat shares that vision and puts it into practice with high-touch patient care."

Burman's executive leadership will remain in place as their services expand under Diplomat's ownership. In addition, all individuals and entities receiving Diplomat common stock as part of this transaction will be subject to certain lock-up restrictions on such shares, for at least six months after closing.

Under the terms of the agreement, Diplomat is acquiring Burman's for $72.8 million cash and $10 million in Diplomat common stock. For the 12 months ended May 31, 2015, Burman's generated approximately $383 million in revenue and approximately $21 million in EBITDA. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Diplomat's earnings per share in 2015.  Diplomat funded the cash component of the purchase price with cash on hand along with use of its existing credit facility.
To learn more about Diplomat, visit www.diplomat.is.

About Diplomat
Diplomat (NYSE: DPLO) serves patients and physicians in all 50 states. Headquartered in Flint, Michigan, the company focuses on medication management programs for people with complex chronic diseases, including oncology, immunology, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, HIV, specialized infusion therapy and many other serious or long-term conditions. Diplomat opened its doors in 1975 as a neighborhood pharmacy with one essential tenet: "Take good care of patients, and the rest falls into place." Today, that tradition continues—always focused on improving patient care and clinical adherence. For more information visit www.diplomat.is. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and like us on Facebook.

About Burman's Specialty Pharmacy
Burman's is a leader in disease-specific treatment programs and has been in business for more than 50 years. Burman's comprehensive services and patient-first approach help patients and physicians navigate the complex waters of a variety of challenging health conditions, all while achieving improved results. Burman's offers individualized pharmaceutical care for a variety of challenging health conditions and complex drug therapies. To learn more, visit www.burmansmedical.com.

CONTACT: INVESTOR CONTACT
Bob East, Westwicke Partners
443.213.0500 | diplomat@westwicke.com
MEDIA CONTACT
Jenny Cretu, Diplomat
810.768.9370 | press@diplomat.is

SOURCE Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc.

Read complete press release here

China rejects patent linked to Gilead hepatitis C drug

China has rejected a Gilead Sciences Inc patent application related to its costly hepatitis C drug, a U.S. advocacy group said, adding the move may lead to other countries to consider rejecting patents for the controversial treatment.

Gilead has drawn fire for the cost of its top-selling drug Sovaldi, priced at $1,000 per pill in the United States or $84,000 for a typical 12-week course and its patents have been challenged in the U.S., India and Europe.

The application China has rejected was for a so-called prodrug, the inactive form of the drug which then converts into the chemically active compound once in the body, the New York-based Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK) said.

Read more...

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Louisville needle swap aims to stop repeat of nearby HIV, hepatitis C outbreaks

A trio of deadly afflictions is ripping through a rural county in southern Indiana.

More than 130 patients in Scott County, Ind., tested positive for HIV in less than a year, making the community of about 24,000 people the site of one of the worst outbreaks in decades.

Among the infected are 114 who also tested positive for another blood-borne disease — hepatitis C, which attacks the liver.

Read more...

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

UK: NHS accused of delaying access to 'highly tolerable' hepatitis C drugs over cost concerns

The NHS has been accused by leading health charities of attempting to “severely limit” the introduction of new drugs to treat hepatitis C because they are too expensive – despite the cost of them being cleared by officials.

The organisations have called on the Health Secretary to intervene, saying that NHS England has made a series of “unprecedented requests” for patients’ access to new drugs to be delayed because of the price.

Yet Nice has approved the drugs as “cost-effective”, leading to a plea from 14 organisations and senior doctors including the Hepatitis C Trust, the National Aids Trust and The Haemophilia Society to Jeremy Hunt.

Read more...

Monday, June 15, 2015

Local woman sues Anthem Blue Cross for denying Hepatitis C drug


Jane Blumenfeld said it has been 14 years of fear and uncertainty since she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. She does not know when her health could take a turn for the worst.

It all started when she tried to donate blood.

Read more...

Australia: Senator Ian Macdonald on mission to remove hepatitis C stigma

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Queensland Senator Ian Macdonald and his nephew are on a mission to tackle the stigma around hepatitis C and help improve access to life-saving treatments.

Senator Macdonald’s nephew Ian Pengelly, 44, was born with a form of haemophilia and contracted the potentially-deadly hepatitis C virus as a young teenager from the unscreened blood-clotting factor he was given as a part of his treatment during the 1980s.

This week, with the support of his uncle, Mr Pengelly is speaking publicly about his battle with the disease for the first time, and will detail his journey in a new book to be launched by Hepatitis Australia in Parliament House on Tuesday.

Around 230,000 Australians are believed to be living with chronic hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus which affects the liver and kills around 600 people each year.

Read more...

Saturday, June 13, 2015

UK: NHS England sets up new £190m hep C fund

NHS England is stumping up £190m to pay for new hepatitis C treatments from AbbVie and Gilead that are yet to receive full funding from the country's health service.
 
The NHS's main commissioning body said that the existing budget for these drugs would be increased to £190m - up from the £40m budget that began last year.

This is the NHS's single largest investment in new treatments this year (except for the £280m Cancer Drugs Fund), but comes after a long delay for this extra funding stream.

The money will go to the roughly 3,500 hepatitis C patients in England and Wales with cirrhosis of the liver, and will gain access by the end of this year to AbbVie's Viekirax, a three-drug combination therapy for the disease, and Exviera (dasabuvir), as well as Gilead's hep C pills Sovaldi and Harvoni.

Read more...