Interviews

Patients with sickle cell disease already face suspicion and biases based on their need for opioids, and African American patients also face additional racial biases, said C. Patrick Carroll, MD, director of psychiatric services, Sickle Cell Center for Adults, associate professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

According to Bruce Sherman, MD, chief medical officer of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, there are several ways that employers can alleviate the impacts of co-pay accumulator adjustment programs on their employees, including by increasing awareness of the programs, expanding preventive drug lists, subsidizing benefits for low-income workers, and considering the true financial impact of these programs. 

Predicting T-cell toxicity is a key factor when it comes to successfully using CAR T-cell therapy, said Reona Sakemura, MD, PhD, postdoctoral researcher at the Mayo Clinic.

Real-world data can help resolve some challenges commonly faced in clinical trails, said Viraj Narayanan, MBA, vice president of Life Sciences at COTA Healthcare.

Evidence is showing that early palliative care can be beneficial for patients with blood cancers, who receive very intense treatments that impact quality of life, said Adam Olszewski, MD, associate professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Bone marrow derived cancer-associated fibroblasts promote tumor progression which can alter a treatment's course, said Reona Sakemura, MD, PhD, postdoctoral researcher at the Mayo Clinic.

GUARD-AF is an example of the commitment of the BMS, Pfizer Alliance in trying to further the standard of care in patients with atrial fibrillation, said Roland Chen, MD, MS, vice president and head of clinical development for innovative medicines at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Instead of replacing clinical trials, real-world data will be used to supplement traditional clinical trial information, said Viraj Narayanan, MBA, vice president of Life Sciences at COTA Healthcare.

There is not a lot of evidence on how well nonpharmacologic treatments work to treat sickle cell disease–related pain, and it can be difficult to get people access to these treatments, said C. Patrick Carroll, MD, director of psychiatric services, Sickle Cell Center for Adults, associate professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

While co-pay accumulator programs may appear to save employers money, they may lead to medication nonadherence if a prescription becomes too expensive for a patient to fill, which could potentially result in higher expenditures, cautioned Bruce Sherman, MD, chief medical officer of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.