SAN DIEGO, Sept. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Imprimis
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMY), a pharmaceutical company
dedicated to making drugs affordable through its Branded
Compounding™ business model, today announced the launch of the
Imprimis Cares Access Network (ICAN), a new patient assistance
program designed to simplify the process of accessing Imprimis'
patent-pending Tiopronin Delayed Release (Tiopronin-DR) compounded
formulations, a lower cost alternative to Thiola®, as well as other
Imprimis Cares® compounded formulations.
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Sam S., a 45-year old male Imprimis Cares patient from
Alabama, stated, "I have been
taking Thiola® for nearly 20 years and was relieved when I learned
Imprimis Pharmaceuticals had introduced a lower-cost tiopronin
alternative. The new Tiopronin-DR formulation is
significantly more affordable for my employer, which is
self-insured, and allows me to reduce the number of pills I take
from 15 pills per day to 6. I fully support the Imprimis
Cares program and its mission of providing all Americans access to
affordable prescription drugs. I am now enrolled in automatic
refills to ensure my medication is delivered to my home each
month. It has been a pleasure working with the Imprimis team
and patient advocates during my changeover from Thiola® to
Tiopronin-DR and I cannot thank them enough for the time they
devoted on my behalf to ensure access to this formulation now
covered by my insurance."
Tiopronin is commonly prescribed for the treatment of cystine
stone formation in the kidneys, ureter, and bladder in cystinuria
patients who do not respond to dietary changes and increased
fluids. Imprimis' tiopronin compounded formulations may not
only significantly lower the cost of cystinuria treatments but also
allow patients, for the first time, to reduce the number of pills
they consume on a daily basis for this chronic genetic
disease. Imprimis' exclusive National Drug Code (NDC) for
tiopronin should allow patients and their insurance companies to
experience a reduction in costs of more than 70% compared to the
FDA-approved Thiola per 100mg dose.
The ICAN team of dedicated patient advocates will work with
physicians, their office staff, insurance carriers and pharmacy
benefit managers (PBMs) to facilitate and expedite the insurance
payment process on behalf of patients enrolled in the
program. The network also provides assistance and support for
eligible patients to substantially decrease or eliminate
out-of-pocket expenses. Enrollees have the option to receive
emails and brochures with updates and other helpful information
about their condition and treatment options. To learn more or
to enroll, please visit
http://www.imprimisrx.com/why-imprimisrx/imprimis-cares/ican/.
Mark L. Baum, Chief Executive
Officer of Imprimis, stated, "The new ICAN program is powered by
the good relationships we have been able to build with leading PBMs
and their plan sponsors who, like Imprimis, are 100% committed to
making sure patients have access to affordable critical medicines
prescribed by a physician. The ICAN team, working in concert
with our payor partners, help support cystinuria patients and their
families as they transition from higher cost medicines to the
Imprimis Cares formulary. We would like to thank our payor
partners for working with us to develop the ICAN program which
ensures affordable access to critical medicines. In the
future, we intend to continue to expand the Imprimis Cares
formulary to drive value for patients, payors and our
shareholders."
Tiopronin Delayed Release Formulations
Physicians and their cystinuria patients may now choose from one
of two lower-cost compounded alternatives to Thiola®.
- Tiopronin Delayed Release is comprised of the active ingredient
tiopronin along with a cellulose-based FDA-approved delayed release
agent. This formulation is available in various customizable
doses including 200mg and 250mg capsules.
- Tiopronin-K Delayed Release is comprised of the active
ingredient tiopronin along with potassium citrate in a delayed
release capsule, for those patients who have had their potassium
citrate dosing titrated. Potassium citrate is the first-line
alkalinizing drug for the treatment of cystinuria. According
to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, in addition to
chelating medications such as tiopronin, potassium citrate is often
co-prescribed and taken separately to make the urine more alkaline,
potentially reducing cystine crystallization and stone
formation.
Commitment to Patient Access
Imprimis is committed to the company's mission, vision and
values of providing patients with affordable access to the
medications they need. As with Imprimis' other formulations,
the alternative to Thiola resulted from the needs of patients,
physicians and payors for a lower-cost therapeutic solution.
Significant increases in drug prices, coupled with an increasing
number of higher deductible drug benefit plans and some insurance
companies simply refusing to cover costs altogether, make it
difficult for many patients to gain affordable access to the
medications they need. Imprimis plans to continue to expand
its Imprimis Cares formulary and introduce additional drug
formulations for patient populations that may not have available
alternatives to increasingly expensive FDA-approved
medications. To learn more about Imprimis Cares, please visit
http://www.imprimisrx.com/why-imprimisrx/imprimis-cares/.
Commitment to Quality
Imprimis is committed to providing high quality medications
compounded at FDA-inspected and PCAB-accredited facilities.
All active drug ingredients used as components of the formulations
are FDA-approved and manufactured to a USP Monograph or a similarly
accepted national or international standard. Federal and
state oversight is a part of every aspect of the Imprimis drug
supply chain from raw material acquisition to production, testing
and dispensing. We strive to meet and/or exceed all quality
standards for the formulations we dispense and are committed to
transparency to our customers when it comes to batch and lot
testing performed, including providing sterility test results for
each order we dispense for sterile compounded drugs. For
additional information, please visit
http://www.imprimisrx.com/why-imprimisrx/quality/.
About Imprimis Pharmaceuticals
Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMY) is a
pharmaceutical company dedicated to making drugs affordable through
its Branded Compounding™ business model. The company is
focused on patient outcomes and affordability and offers high
quality lower-cost custom compounded drugs in all 50 states.
Headquartered in San Diego,
California, Imprimis owns and operates four dispensing
facilities located in California,
Texas, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For more information about
Imprimis, please visit the corporate website at
www.ImprimisRx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Any statements in this release that are not historical facts
may be considered such "forward looking statements."
Forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties which may
cause results to differ materially and adversely from the
statements contained herein. Some of the potential risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those
predicted include our ability to make commercially available our
compounded formulations and technologies in a timely manner or at
all; physician interest in prescribing our formulations; risks
related to our compounding pharmacy operations; our ability to
enter into other strategic alliances, including arrangements with
pharmacies, physicians and healthcare organizations for the
development and distribution of our formulations; our ability to
obtain intellectual property protection for our assets; our ability
to accurately estimate our expenses and cash burn, and raise
additional funds when necessary; risks related to research and
development activities; the projected size of the potential market
for our technologies and formulations; unexpected new data, safety
and technical issues; regulatory and market developments impacting
compounding pharmacies, outsourcing facilities and the
pharmaceutical industry; competition; and market conditions. These
and additional risks and uncertainties are more fully described in
Imprimis' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports
on Form 10-Q. Such documents may be read free of charge on the
SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. Undue reliance should not be placed
on forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date they
are made. Except as required by law, Imprimis undertakes no
obligation to update any forward looking statements to reflect new
information, events or circumstances after the date they are made,
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
All Imprimis compounded formulations may only be prescribed
pursuant to a physician prescription for an individually identified
patient consistent with federal and state laws governing compounded
drug formulations.
Media Contact
Paul
Rabin
paul@pascalecommunications.com
516.503.0271
Investor Contact:
Bonnie
Ortega
bortega@imprimispharma.com
858.704.4587
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SOURCE Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.