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Strive Compounding Pharmacy recently revealed that it has acquired a nearly 50,000 square-foot site in St. Louis, MO.1 The facility—the pharmacy says—represents a step in the right direction, as it not only represents growth, but an interest in growing its telemedicine services.
Specifically, with the pharmaceutical compounding, warehouse, and custom fulfillment services all being housed in its St. Louis plant, the facility is prepared to help customers benefit from a vertically-integrated approach, which can help “level the playing field” when it comes to telehealth clinics trying to compete against competitors that are also vertically integrated.
The advantages of having this type of offering is turnaround time. Not only can Strive continue to scale patient-specific meds without losing that brand touch, but it can also do so at a faster rate. The turnkey solution allows for telehealth companies to provide a more personalized service to patients for a lower rate.
“Our investment goes beyond just boosting its operational offering. It reflects our larger vision: to drive adoption of optimized care by increasing patient access to high-quality, safe, personalized medicines,” said Nate Hill, CEO of Strive Compounding Pharmacy. “Whether through telehealth or brick-and-mortar clinics, we are making the necessary investments and innovations to make that vision a reality.”
For example, when it comes to GLP-1s, Strive can help telehealth clinics expand their offerings beyond just the popular ones, preparing clinics to deliver wide-ranging solutions to patients while also underlining long-term goals. This involves clinics being able to use Strive Compounding Pharmacy’s clinical know-how to help with the addition new treatment possibilities into the mix.
And for the most important winner in this news—the patients—they will now have access to an enhanced experience that’s powered by affordable, thoroughly tested compounded medications.
In other compounding pharmacy news, Pharma Commerce’s Miranda Schmalfuhs recently sat down with with Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding’s Scott Brunner and Tenille Davis to discuss challenges faced by patients and healthcare providers due to drug shortages, particularly for semaglutide, and highlighted the role of compounding pharmacies in addressing these shortages and the importance of distinguishing legitimate compounding pharmacies from illicit actors.2
When it came to specific challenges that have arisen in the supply chain for semaglutide and other medications during the ongoing shortages, Brunner noted that “…It’s very unusual, first of all, to have a branded drug on the FDA drug shortage list. About 80% of the drugs on the shortage list at any given time are generics, 20% or so branded drugs. We not only have a branded drug on the shortage list, but we also have a blockbuster branded drug on the shortage list that has life changing implications for millions of patients. And then on top of that, we have an extended shortage. Semaglutide has been on the GOP the FDA shortage list since March of 2022. Tirzepatide, which FDA just moved off of the list last week, had been on the list since December of 2022 and so there was an extraordinary demand that the drug makers were not able to meet. And into that gap have stepped compounding pharmacies.
“Compounding is allowed under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in a couple of circumstances. One is when a prescriber judges that there’s no appropriate FDA approved medication for a patient, and he/she can then prescribe a custom medication that is not commercially available. The other instance is where we find ourselves. The FDA approved drug is the appropriate drug, and yet it’s not available. It’s in shortage, and so compounders are allowed to create copies of FDA approved drugs when the drug appears as currently in shortage on the FDA drug shortage list. That is where we are, where we continue to be, with semaglutide in particular.”
Reference
1. Strive Compounding Pharmacy Acquires 50,000 sq. ft. Facility in St. Louis for Turnkey Telehealth Compounding and Fulfillment. PR Newswire. October 30, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/strive-compounding-pharmacy-acquires-50-000-sq-ft-facility-in-st-louis-for-turnkey-telehealth-compounding-and-fulfillment-302290928.html
2. Schmalfuhs M. Is Compounding the Answer to the Semaglutide Shortage? Experts Weigh In. Pharmaceutical Commerce. October 30, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2024. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/compounding-answer-semaglutide-shortage-experts-weigh-in