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Advances in continuous glucose monitoring, reimbursement for genetic testing, and payment models in oncology care were popular with readers of the Evidence-Based series.

A team at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston led by original pioneers in immuno-oncology have published a paper in Nature Medicine that discusses an immune-suppressing enzyme that was strongly present in glioblastoma but not in 5 other tumor types the team studied.

In 2019, the peer-reviewed research published in The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) that drew the most readers included studies on value-based arrangements, out-of-network payment policies, and more.

Thomas C. Corbridge, MD, FCCP, is a GSK medical expert and an emeritus physician and adjunct professor of medicine at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Corbridge received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and has been in practice for over 30 years. Dr. Corbridge specializes in pulmonary and critical care medicine and is experienced in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and general pulmonology.

Although there were many updates in various facets of diabetes care, one change stood out. New recommendations call for 2 drug classes to be used to treat patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and comorbidities: sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists.

The use of antiretroviral therapy has allowed patients with HIV to have a life expectancy that approaches the lifespan of those without HIV. Despite this progress, however, HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders remain prevalent, and range from mild problems with memory, language, and reasoning to more severe HIV-associated dementia.

In 2019, The American Journal of Managed Care® team interviewed key opinion leaders nationwide. Here are the top 5 most-watched interviews from this year.

Drug maker Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has announced that the ILLUMINATE-A trial, a phase 3 study of lumasiran, an investigational RNA interference product targeting glycolate oxidase, met its primary end point in a study of patients with primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1).

AJMC® presents the results of our online poll of the top healthcare stories of 2019.

On Friday, December 20, President Trump signed 2 spending packages totaling $1.4 trillion to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year. The package allows federal funds to be allocated to the National Institutes of Health and CDC for the purpose of conducting research on gun violence for the first time in 2 decades.

Two new classes of drugs that offer significant clinical benefits for patients with diabetes and heart failure dominated medical conferences in 2019. Meanwhile, ovarian cancer guidelines were updated to add new therapies and the intersection of consumer health technology and cardiology also took over headlines. Read on for more.

Hospital and advocacy group opposition to state public options could foretell trouble for national single-payer efforts; electronic health records (EHRs) present new opportunities for fraud; the FDA has approved the first generic versions of apixaban (Eliquis).

Patient feedback is quickly becoming a vital component of the FDA’s regulatory decision-making process for drug applications.

The FDA approved [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki, which will be marketed as Enhertu; preliminary CMS numbers show that 8.3 million people enrolled in coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from November 1 to December 17, about 2% fewer than last year; Sutter Health agreed to pay $575 million to settle claims of anticompetitive behavior brought by the California state attorney general as well as unions and employers.

A higher rate of adverse effects in patients with mantle cell lymphoma can create an economic burden for those who are commercially insured, the authors noted.

The company presented updated phase 1 results for a revamped version of bb2121 that point to sustained responses for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

The top 5 most-read news stories of 2019 for The American Journal of Managed Care® ran the gamut, from the ongoing opioid epidemic to hoped-for new drug approvals to treat type 2 diabetes.

As more patients with cancer survive, the risk of cardiac complications due to the effects of therapies has become a concern to oncologists and cardiologists alike.

Nanopore technology, still in its developmental phases, could be used to detect predictive biomarkers for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a recent study.

People who sleep 9 or more hours a day, take midday naps lasting more than 90 minutes, or have poor sleep quality may be at an increased risk of stroke, according to study findings.

Social inequalities are created before the onset of the illness, rather than after it, according to researchers.

A recently published study amassed real-world evidence from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), concluding that “there has been a closing of the gap in COPD prevalence among both genders.”

The drug, HU-308, is aimed at treating levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). The animal study showed that it was as effective as amantadine, the only available treatment for dyskinesias; combining HU-308 with amantadine was also more effective than either drug used alone.

Current categories of classifying psoriasis, such as mild, moderate, or severe, do not consider past treatments or involvement of special areas, leading to undertreatment, a report said.

This week, top managed care news included a federal appeals court overturning the individual mandate; the Trump administration unveiling a plan to import low-cost drugs; FDA approving a popular fish oil pill to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

A new analysis says allowing beneficiaries in Medicare Part D to benefit from drug manufacturer rebates shows that they could save $29 billion. But if another proposal is chosen, they would save less, and taxpayer costs would rise.

Novartis hopes to distribute Zolgensma, its pricey spinal muscular atrophy drug, via lottery; Merck receives FDA approval for its Ebola vaccine, Ervebo; a new law in California hopes to resurrect compassionate use cannabis programs.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.