Current trends in specialty drug utilization and management Payer interventions in the shadow of a burgeoning pipeline

ICORE Healthcare—a subsidiary of Magellan Pharmacy Solutions—released the latest installment of its annual Medical Pharmacy & Oncology Trend Report.1 This report is unique in that it is the only trend and spend report that looks specifically at the medical benefit, under which almost half of all specialty pharmaceutical costs are currently managed and paid. Now in its third year, the report’s findings indicate that specialty pharmaceuticals are continuing to play an increasingly large role in managed care plan budgets and are certainly deserving of the increased payer attention they are receiving.