Page 34 - Retail Pharmacy November/Decemeber 2020

32 ANNUAL REPORT FROM PAGE 31 leading retail pharmacy brands (Amcal, Chemist King, Discount Drug Stores, Guardian, PharmaSave and WholeLife), attended Sigma’s virtual Pharmacy Assistant Annual Conference, marking the group’s most successful event in the series to date. • A dose counter was added to Ventolin (salbutamol sulphate) metered dose inhalers for Australian patients living with obstructive airway diseases such as asthma and COPD. The updated inhaler was reimbursed on the PBS. • Nubeqa (darolutamide) was approved by the TGA for use in combination with ADT for the treatment of non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. • The home is where most Australians who use alcohol consume the largest quantity per occasion and drink most frequently, compared with pubs, clubs and restaurants, according to the ‘Annual Alcohol Poll 2020: Behaviours and Attitudes’. OCTOBER THE RACE TO FIND A COVID-19 VACCINE The federal government invested almost $6 million in additional funding from the Medical Research Future Fund’s ‘Coronavirus research response’ to support the research and development of three Australian Covid-19 vaccines. Reportedly, under the competitive, peer-reviewed ‘Covid-19 vaccine candidate research grant opportunity’, funding would be allocated for the further development of the three vaccines. The University of Melbourne would receive almost $3 million to develop two vaccine candidates, while the University of Sydney would also receive almost $3 million for a phase 1/1b clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of a novel DNA-based Covid-19 vaccine. Subject to further work, the resulting vaccines could eventually be deployed in Australia and around the world. In response to the announcement, the PSA was calling on all state and territory governments to ensure that legislative amendments were made promptly, so that approved Covid-19 vaccines could be administered by pharmacists. PSA National President Associate Professor Chris Freeman said administering a Covid-19 vaccine would be the primary way out of this pandemic, and all hands on deck were needed to ensure wide and comprehensive uptake of the vaccine. “A proactive approach to legislative amendments now means that when the vaccine is available, all jurisdictions around Australia will be ready to go, with the entire available healthcare workforce, including pharmacists, able to undertake a large-scale vaccination program,” he said. “PSA has written to state and territory governments asking that any required legislative amendments are made now in preparation for when the vaccine becomes available.” AstraZeneca Oxford clinical trials resume Following a single event of unexplained illness that occurred in the UK phase three trial of the AstraZeneca Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, a voluntary pause was placed on vaccination across all trials to allow an independent committee to review the safety data of the event and to ensure integrity of the trials was maintained. Following confirmation by the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority that it was safe to do so, AstraZeneca released another statement later on, saying the clinical trials for the AstraZeneca Oxford Covid-19 vaccine had resumed. Other stories making highlights at this time • The Pharmacy Guild WA Branch called for long-term legislation reform to ensure additional certainty for community pharmacies facing financial hardship due to the Covid-19 pandemic. • A number of Medicare-subsidised Covid-19 health measures, including telehealth and pathology services, GP- led respiratory clinics, home medicines delivery, and public and private hospital services, were extended for a further six months (to 31 March 2021), with the federal government announcing it would be investing more than $2 billion to extend these services. • MedAdvisor launched its e-prescribing functionality to help connect GPs, pharmacists and patients as they navigated the rollout of e-prescriptions across Australia. • A new report revealed that up to 1700 Australians were estimated to die from advanced non-melanoma skin cancer each year and those living with the disease could experience social isolation and poor mental health. • The TGA released a notice of interim decision to amend the Poisons Standard for cannabidiol (CBD). The proposed amendment to downschedule CBD would allow it to be supplied for therapeutic use under a new Schedule 3 (pharmacist- only medicine) entry. This new, non-prescription cannabis channel would allow Australian patients to buy CBD products over the counter on consultation with a pharmacist, without the need for a prescription. • Seqirus Australia received TGA approval for Flucelvax Quad (quadrivalent flu vaccine – surface antigen, inactivated, prepared in cell cultures) to be supplied from the 2021 flu season. NOVEMBER VACCINE RACE HEATS UP November saw the roll out of major vaccine news, following the release of clinical trial efficacy data from some of the major players in the vaccine race. This included news from Pfizer in partnership with BioNTech; the University of Queensland; and Oxford University in collaboration with AstraZeneca. While trials continue, as BioNTech co-founder and CEO, Professor Ugur Sahin says, the trial results are important milestones “on our path towards ending this pandemic and for all of us to regain a sense of normality”. For other major news highlights, visit: retailpharmacymagazine.com.au RETAIL PHARMACY • NOV/DEC 2020