Complex Conditions & Cell And Gene Therapy

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Walgreens, one of the largest retail pharmacy companies in the world, announced last week that it plans to launch a variety of new services as a part of its newly integrated specialty pharmacy business.

With the launch of this new initiative, Walgreens aims to focus on a specific cohort of patients: those with complex and chronic conditions. Specifically, the company will offer a variety of services to help patients with their complex care needs, ranging from launching new specialty pharmacies that will be able to dispense complex medications and have trained staffed to manage patients with chronic conditions, to opening a new Gene and Cell Services Pharmacy and Innovation Center.

Rick Gates, Chief Pharmacy Officer of Walgreens, explains that Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy offers some of the most robust capabilities in the nation currently, and has the ability to “partner directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers to facilitate products to market, including limited distribution drugs, and coordinate closely with providers to ensure patients experience a smooth start to treatment.”

The company’s focus on cell and gene therapy is also a noteworthy venture, given that this is one of the most popular areas of healthcare currently, with billions of dollars being funneled into research annually. At a very fundamental level, the idea behind this field is that disease outcomes and prognoses can be impacted at the cellular and genetic level. Although both of these arenas are relatively new sciences, researchers worldwide are pursuing this work with the hope that they can provide respite and potential therapies for complicated diseases that aren’t as responsive to traditional medications.

For example, among the most popular applications for this research is the study and treatment of cancer. This ranges from efforts to understand new detection modalities and biomarkers, to discovering novel means by which disease progression can be slowed or even arrested. This emphasis on treating cancer is well-founded; a recent paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicated that the median annual cost for anticancer drugs is nearly $196,000. Furthermore, rates of cancer globally are increasing. The American Cancer Society reported that although the risk of dying from cancer has declined in recent years, the incidence rate of cancer is on the rise; additionally, as Sonya Collins explains, the US is “expect[ed] to hit a bleak milestone—the first time new cases of cancer in the US are expected to cross the 2-million mark. That’s almost 5,500 cancer diagnoses a day.” The rising incidence rate mainly stems from the rapidly aging population globally; however, scientists also say it is due to larger global shifts in diet, stress levels, living conditions, and numerous other factors that are having wide-scaled ripple effects on health outcomes.

Cancer, along with other similar chronic and complex conditions, are incredibly challenging for patients and their care-givers to live with not only in terms of cost, but also with regards to quality of life. However, progress is being made. For one, research funding to advance new therapies and medications for these complex conditions is increasing, especially with new breakthroughs in science. Furthermore, organizations that pursue and support cutting-edge sciences, such cell and gene therapy, also help raise awareness on new arenas that can perhaps help society move further. Although the progress will be slow and measured, these efforts will nonetheless pave the way for a better future ahead.