Tuesday 25 Sep 2012

Pharmacy Daily Tuesday 25th September 2012 T 1300 799 220 W www.pharmacydaily.com.au page 1

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Priceline now 350 stores AUSTRALIAN PharmaceuticalIndustries yesterday announced theexpansion of its Priceline networkto 350 stores across the country,with ceo Stephen Roche saying it’sa “significant vote of confidence byAustralian pharmacists in thePriceline Pharmacy proposition”. Of the 350-strong total, around200 are Priceline Pharmacyfranchisees (PD 18 Sep), with therest being company-owned storeswhich do not dispense medicines. He said that API was also in“advanced discussions” with afurther 20 potential Pricelinefranchisees. “We are experiencing a markedincrease in interest frompharmacists in joining PricelinePharmacy,” Roche added. “Ths is due to our proven abilityto deliver sustainable profit results

for our franchisees in the non-dispensary area of the store andour commitment to strengtheningthe community pharmacy role”. Roche highlighted Priceline’sstrong focus on the health andbeauty needs of women as well asthe Sister Club loyalty program,which now has more than 3.9million members. He said this made PricelinePharmacy a compelling propositionin the face of increasingcompetition from supermarketsand discounters, and theaccelerating decline in PBS revenue. “Given that the environment willonly get tougher in the next two tothree years, we fully expectpharmacists’ interest in joining thePriceline Pharmacy network tocontinue to be strong,” he added.

Alcohol labelling plan A NEW alcohol labelling initiativelaunched yesterday will make iteasier for packaging to reflectwarnings for pregnant women. Members of the Winemakers’Federation of Australia will registertheir labels with DrinkWiseAustralia, which then in turn sendswarnings related to alcoholconsumption while pregnantdirectly to the winemakerspackaging firm for easier labelling. The government has given thealcoholic beverage industry twoyears to adopt vountary regulationon labels before making thechanges mandatory.

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Arthritis recording PHARMACISTS and patients whowere unable to attend the recentArthritis NSW online “webinar” canpurchase access to the recording ofthe session. The shoulder pain and arthritiswebinar was presented by Dr JudyChen, a physiotherapist whospecialises in shoulders. It looked at the anatomy of theshoulder joint and how it is affectedby arthritis, as well as how tomanage pain. The recording is available via theinternet until 24 Oct, and costs $15for Arthritis Australia members and$20 for non-members. See www.arthritisnsw.org.au.

Dutch pharmacy deal A US-BASED private equity firmhas announced a US$1 billion bidfor Netherlands pharmacy chainMediq NV which owns 226pharmacies across the country. Mediq, which was founded in1899, also distributes drugs andmedical devices in 15 countriesincluding Germany, Sweden, Polandand the USA.

Irritable bowel move THE European Medicines Agencyhas recommended authorisation ofthe EU’s first medicine specificallyfor the symptomatic treatment ofirritable bowel syndrome. Constella (linaclotide) is indicatedfor adults with moderate to severeIBS with constipation. It’s a new synthetic 14-amino-acidpeptide which works by increasingthe secretion of fluid in theintestine and accelerating themovement of material in the gut.

Digital pill dispenser BAYER’S Yaz Flex can now beprescribed in Australia, providingwomen with an approved oralcontraceptive with a flexibleextended regimen that can be usedcontinuously for up to 120 days. Yaz Flex thus gives women theoption to delay their period for upto four months, and comes with a“Clyk” digital tablet dispenserwhich provides reminders andadvises actions to be taken shouldone or more pills be missed. Yaz Flex is a low-dose combinedoral contraceptive containingdrosperinone 3mg and ethinylestradiol 20ug. The Clyk dispenser stores up to 30Yaz Flex pills, and is available fromtoday either in a starter kit fromprescribers or direct from Bayer. There’s also an associated websiteat www.myperiods.com.au.

Tuesday 25 Sep 2012

Weekly CommentWeekly CommentGuild Update

EDITORS Bruce Piper and Amanda Collins EMAIL info@pharmacydaily.com.au ADVERTISING Magda Herdzik EMAIL advertising@pharmacydaily.com.au page 2

Assistance wantedon assistants

THE Guild is proud of its recordin providing training tothousands of pharmacyassistants, over many years.

Pharmacy assistants are veryoften the first point of contactfor consumers who visit apharmacy – and first impressionsare always important.

It is most important that theyare trained to the beststandards, particularly in relationto understanding of themedicine schedules.

The Guild is currentlyundertaking an evaluation of itspharmacy assistant trainingprogram and invites communitypharmacy owners to participate.

Telephone interviews withGuild members are beingconducted to understandmembers’ experiences, attitudesand perceptions toward GuildTraining.

All information will be treatedas strictly confidential.

The research is beingconducted on behalf of the Guildby independent research firmAndrews Group.

If you are a Guild member whois interested in participating inthe survey, please contact JillianHarriott at Andrews Group byemail onjillian@andrewsgroup.com.auor (03) 9654 4480.

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THE US Food and DrugAdministration has announced theformation of an “internal taskforce” to support the developmentof new antibacterial drugs. The move is part of theGenerating Antibiotic IncentivesNow (GAIN) initiative under thenew Food and Drug AdministrationSafety and Innovation Act. The FDA said research anddevelopment for new antibacterialdrugs had been in decline in recentdecades, with the number of newFDA-approved antibiotics fallingsteadily since the 1980s. “During this time the persistentand sometimes indiscriminate useof existing antibacterial drugsworldwide has resulted in adecrease in the effectiveness ofthese drugs,” the FDA said. Antibiotic resistance has becomea “serious issue of global concern,”with more than 70% of the bacteriawhich cause hospital-associatedinfections being resistant to at leastone type of antibacterial drug. The task force is a multidisciplinary

FDA focuses on antibioticsgroup of 19 scientists and clinicianswho will link with other experts inthe field including from industry,academia, patient advocacy groups,professional societies andgovernment agencies. It has been asked to explore novelscientific approaches to facilitateantibacterial drug development,such as the broader use of clinicalpharmacology data, statisticalmethods, innovative clinical trialdesigns, use of additional availabledata sources and the “advancementof alternative measures to evaluateclinical effectiveness of potentialnew therapies”. The group will also identify issuesrelating to unmet medical needs forantibacterial drugs, and why thereis a lack of a robust pipeline forantibacterial drug development. See www.fda.gov.

A MAJOR public health alert inZimbabwe has seen thecommunity urged to join the so-called “big flush”. The residents of Bulawayo,Zimbabwe’s second biggest city,have been asked to simultaneouslyflush their toilets at 7.30pm eachMon and Thu in order to helpclear waste which hasaccumulated in sewers duringseveral days of water shortages. A spokesperson for the city,Nesisa Mpofu, said that residentswere also allowed to flush atother times, countering confusionfrom some people who hadmistakenly thought they wereonly allowed to flush twice a week. Mpofu said the synchronisedflushing would help the “old andoverburdened” sanitation systemto cope with increasing demandsfrom the growing population. Civic activists criticised thesolution as “ridiculous”.

THIS could be an extreme way tofight the effects of ageing. A Korean scientist hasdiscovered a strong correlationbetween longevity and castration,after studying records from thecountry’s royal history. Until the late 19th centuryKorean rules apparently employedeunuchs to serve in the royalcourt, with the genealogicalrecords contained in the Yang-S-Guye-Bo document dating back tothe 1600s. Kyung-Jin Min and his colleaguesfrom Inha University pored overthe data and found that theeunuchs lived 14-19 years longerthan their uncastratedcontemporaries.

Conscience case in US A COURT in the US state of Illinoishas upheld a ruling that pharmacistscannot be forced to dispenseemergency contraceptive drugs. The long-running case was firstinitiated in 2005 when the thenstate governor issued a rule thatmandated the availability of themorning after pill via pharmacies. Last Fri an appeals court ruledthat the two pharmacists and theirpharmacies which were fighting thecase fall under the protection ofthe Illinois Helath Care Right ofConscience Act. The judge also concluded thatemergency contraceptives do notconstitute “emergency medical care”.

European clinical trials THE UK Medicines and Healthcareproducts Regulatory Agency haslaunched a new ‘Good ClinicalPractice Guide’ which covers thelegislation, guidance and goodpractice relating to the conduct ofclinical trials of medicinal productsfor human use in the UK. The guide references Europeanlegislation and guidance as well asinternational standards, and coversa range of areas including sponsoroversight, applying forauthorisations, and EthicsCommittee opinons. There are also extensive practicaldetails of the conduct andmanagement of clinical trialsincluding documentation,management of data, safetyreporting and quality systems. It’s available in paperback formfrom The Stationery Office for £45 -see www.tsoshop.co.uk.

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