Industry news

BD acquires Tepha, Inc., to drive new innovations in soft tissue repair and regeneration

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (Franklin Lakes, NJ) has acquired Tepha, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of a proprietary resorbable polymer technology.

Tepha’s proprietary resorbable polymer (Poly 4-hydroxybutyric acid, P4HB) technology platform provides additional innovation potential that can accelerate the growth of BD’s surgical mesh portfolio and drives the company into potential new areas within soft tissue repair, reconstruction and regeneration, BD says.

The acquisition of Tepha also provides strategic vertical integration of an important supply chain component for BD’s existing Phasix Mesh products. Tepha’s GalaFLEX portfolio, also based on the novel P4HB polymer, is included in the acquisition.

Tepha’s GalaFLEX products are a bioresorbable scaffold for soft tissue support and to repair, elevate and reinforce deficiencies where weakness or voids exist that require the addition of material to obtain the desired surgical outcome.

The BD Interventional segment intends to expand the applicability of Tepha’s technology to other medical applications and to drive the transformation of soft tissue repair and regeneration as part of its strategy to innovate solutions for clinicians and patients in the future.

Tepha is the sixth tuck-in acquisition that BD has completed in fiscal 2021. The transaction is expected to be immaterial to BD’s fiscal 2021 financial results. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

CMS proposes 2022 OPPS rates, higher hospital price transparency penalty

CMS is seeking greater hospital price transparency enforcement through the newly proposed Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule for calendar year 2022.

The proposed rule would make changes to dozens of health policies, among those changes would be an increase in the monetary penalty CMS can impose on hospitals that fail to comply with the price transparency requirements that took effect January 1, 2021. Those requirements include publishing payer-specific negotiated rates and other pricing information on the hospital’s public website and providing a consumer-friendly list of prices for shoppable services.

If the rule is finalized as is, the penalties would increase to a minimum civil monetary penalty of $300 per day for smaller hospitals with a bed count of 30 or fewer and $10 per bed per day for hospitals with a bed count greater than 30, up to a daily dollar amount of $5,500.

For a full calendar year of noncompliance, hospitals could be penalized a minimum of $109,500 per hospital and a maximum of $2,007,500.

The CY 2022 OPPS proposed rule would also boost hospital Medicare reimbursement next year by 2.3%. The increase is based on the projected hospital market basket increase of 2.5% reduced by 0.2 percentage points for the productivity adjustment.

Additionally, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) will see a 2.3% increase in Medicare reimbursement next year as long as the facilities meet relevant quality reporting requirements.

CMS proposed to maintain the payment rate of average sales price (ASP) minus 22.5% for certain separately payable drugs or biologicals acquired through the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The payment rate was implemented under the Trump administration in 2018 and significantly cut hospital reimbursement for facilities participating in the federal program.

Prices for cardboard boxes, wood pallets increase amid tight supply

The prices for shipping supplies, such as corrugated boxes and wood pallets, have been climbing recently amid tight supply, according to the

Institute for Supply Management’s June manufacturing report.

Both boxes and wood pallets have reached record highs on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index. Corrugated and solid fiber box manufacturing climbed to 375.3 in June, up from 342.0 in June 2020. The index for wood container and pallet manufacturing rose to 208.5 in June, versus 155.1 the year prior.

Companies are still clamoring for these pricier materials as they try to keep pace with heightened consumer spending, particularly for e-commerce orders that call for cardboard packaging.

Cardinal Health launches NavixRx compliance packaging and E-Commerce Storefront

Cardinal Health (Dublin, OH) launched two new solutions – Cardinal Health NavixRx Compliance Packaging and E-Commerce Storefront – to help independent pharmacies meet changing consumer expectations and

offer personalized and convenient ondemand services.

NavixRx Compliance Packaging provides independent pharmacies a solution to outsource compliance packaging for patients taking two or more prescriptions daily. The company says compliance packaging increases medication adherence for patients on complicated medication regimens by putting the medications together into daily strip packs.

NavixRx Compliance Packaging is fully operational in Lewisville with proximity to a Cardinal Health distribution center and the Dallas Fort Worth and Alliance airports, providing supply and logistical advantages for service to pharmacies nationwide. Pharmacists send prescriptions to the Cardinal Health fulfillment center, in Lewisville, Texas, where a team of on-site pharmacists use a central fill model to compliantly package prescriptions, by the dose, into a 30-day supply of strip packs. Over-thecounter medications and vitamins can be added to the daily strip packs with the prescriptions.

Multiple quality checks, including digital imaging, are performed at the Cardinal Health fulfillment center to confirm the contents of every package before sending the compliance strips back to the pharmacy for delivery to the patient. NavixRx Compliance Packaging digitally integrates with the pharmacist’s Pharmacy Management System to ensure consistency and safety.

E-Commerce Storefront is a digital platform that independent pharmacies can leverage to expand online shopping capabilities for patients by offering more than 11,000 over-thecounter products.

The E-Commerce storefront website integrates into an independent pharmacy’s existing website and provides a streamlined dashboard to reconcile orders. Available over-the-counter products are automatically processed through the pharmacy’s distribution center with their standard shipment. E-Commerce Storefront offers next-day delivery from the Cardinal Health warehouse to the pharmacy, along with marketing support from Cardinal Health.

Corrugated packaging manufacturer WestRock raised prices across all paper grades and saw North American box shipments increase 5.5% YoY, Ward Dickson, executive vice president and CFO, said on the company’s Q2 earnings call.

Pallet costs, meanwhile, were up 400% in May due in part to strong demand and lumber costs, the United Fresh Produce Association said in an emailed notice.

Thomas didn’t provide data on growth in wood pallet sourcing specifically, but CEO Tony Uphoff said wood pallets ranked No. 4 and No. 10 for items sourced from California and Pennsylvania, respectively, according to Supply Chain Dive.

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