December 2023

Specialty pharmacy expert Dr. Susan Trieu tells Specialty Pharmacy Continuum what's ahead for the drug pipeline in 2024.

It's been a record year for specialty drug approvals.

That's according to the latest article from Specialty Pharmacy Continuum featuring Dr. Susan Trieu, our head of specialty clinical strategy.

"The FDA appears to be making up for lost time after the pandemic," said authors, Marie Rosenthal, MS, and Kate Baggaley.

By the end of 2023, more than 50 new specialty drugs will be approved. “More than 80% of all specialty drug development is for orphan conditions and cancer," the article continued.

By the end of 2023, a record-breaking 50+ new specialty drugs will be approved by the FDA.

Dr. Trieu has been following these trends all year.

The authors continue: "Overall, Dr. Trieu said, this year’s approvals demonstrate that 'the number of specialty drugs … far outweighs what we are seeing in the traditional drug space.'"

"This year's approvals demonstrate the number of specialty drugs...far outweighs what we're seeing in the traditional drug space." - Dr. Susan Trieu

Here's where you should continue to watch, according to Dr. Trieu:

“Oncology has been a huge space in terms of development,” she told Specialty Pharmacy Continuum.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatments are also advancing. Weighing in on "Tofersen (Qalsody, Biogen)...the first drug approved to treat adults with superoxide dismutase 1–positive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)," Dr. Trieu says:

“It will be interesting to see what the payors do for [Tofersen]. I would imagine the prior authorization would be pretty difficult [for] this particular agent.”

Check out the entire forecast in the December 2023 edition of Specialty Pharmacy Continuum. Read the article.

Want to know what else is ahead for specialty approvals?