Specialty Pharmacy Leaders to Convene for NASP inSPire2026

As specialty pharmacy addresses the rising cost and complexity of cell and gene therapies, this year's newly rebranded inSPire2026 meeting will bring pharmacists, nurses, and industry leaders together to chart how those breakthroughs actually reach patients.

From September 22 to 25, 2026, specialty pharmacy professionals will gather for inSPire2026, the newly rebranded successor to the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy's (NASP) Annual Meeting & Expo. Pharmacists, clinical nurses, pharmacy technicians, and attorneys are expected to outnumber last year's 2100-plus registrants. The conference programming is organized around NASP's C.O.R.E.+ framework: Clinical, Operational, Regulatory, and Specialty Experience plus Insights, with more than 30 continuing education (CE) contact hours available across the main conference and its Tuesday workshops. Additionally, there will be 6 pre-conference workshops on September 22 covering accreditation, infusion practice, cell and gene therapy, hospital and health-system specialty pharmacy, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven "NextGen Intelligence," and specialty pharmacy law.¹

This year’s meeting at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, features 45 accredited educational sessions and a keynote conversation on artificial intelligence with physician-technologist Geeta Nayyar, MD, MBA.

What to Look Out For: inSPire 2026 Agenda

Several sessions trace how expensive, complex therapies actually reach patients. “The Role of the Federal Government in CGT Development and Access” (September 22, 3:05-3:55 PM) opens the thread, followed by “From Policy to the Pharmacy Counter: Navigating Patient Assistance in an Era of Legislative Shifts” (September 23, 10:00-10:50 AM).²

Thursday, September 24, carries the heaviest access-and-cost programming: “Re-imagining Value-Based Contracting for High-Cost Therapies” (10:00-10:50 AM) and “Evolving Payor Landscape & Unique Contracting Frameworks Impacting Specialty Pharmacies” (11:00-11:50 AM) run back-to-back, and “Navigating the 340B Drug Pricing Program: State and Federal Developments, Innovation, & Challenges” (3:30-4:20 PM) closes out the thread.

Therapeutic-area programming runs alongside the access and policy track. A multiple sclerosis practice course opens the conference Tuesday, September 22 (1:00-2:00 PM), and MS returns Friday, September 25, with “Mind the Nerves: Multiple Sclerosis Standards, Struggles, and Future Horizons” (9:55-10:45 AM). Friday also includes “State of Care: The Evolution of Dermatology in Specialty Pharmacy” (10:55-11:45 AM) and closes with “A Clinic to Remember: Optimizing Alzheimer's Care Through Specialty Pharmacy” (11:55 AM-12:45 PM).

Thursday afternoon ends with an “AI in Healthcare” conversation featuring Nayyar. (4:30-6:00 PM). NASP President and CEO Sheila M. Arquette, RPh, said inSPire2026 will feature “all the activities our attendees have grown to love and come to expect, including riveting keynote speakers, new National Harbor-themed networking events, and an exhibit hall to facilitate crucial conversations that we know our sponsors and exhibitors will appreciate.” ³ The NASP Industry Awards ceremony follows immediately after, alongside the Ron Bookman Memorial Scholarship Awards, which recognize students and residents entering specialty pharmacy.²

Technology and Innovation Cap Off the Conference

Across 4 days, inSPire2026’s sessions circle back to a single question: how does specialty pharmacy get increasingly complex and expensive therapies for the patients who need them and keep them there? Cell and gene therapy access, patient assistance, payor contracting, and 340B pricing are all different angles on that same problem, with AI and data increasingly part of the answer. That’s what the C.O.R.E.+ framework notes: that specialty pharmacy's job isn’t just clinical anymore; it’s building the operational and regulatory foundation that gets breakthroughs to patients reliably.

References

1. Specialty pharamcy’s premier event. NASP. Accessed September 17, 2026. naspnet.org/annual-meeting
2. Agenda. NASP. Accessed September 17, 2026. events.mma-inc.com/event/inSPire2026/agenda
3. NASP releases agenda for the inSPire2026 conference. News release. NASP. Published May 13, 2026. Accessed September 17, 2026. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/05/13/3294342/0/en/NASP-Releases-Agenda-for-the-inSPire2026-conference.html