It's typical at the beginning of a new year to review what has been done in the past and to make plans for the future. The following provides highlights of the past and future of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding (IJPC) and its publication, the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding (IJPC).

THE PAST:

IJPC was organized in 1996 and began publishing the IJPC in January/February 1997. IJPC is owned by 24 individuals/pharmacists throughout the U.S. and Canada. It has published six issues per year continuously since that time and is currently in its 19th year of providing science- and practice-based resources for compounding pharmacists throughout the world. IJPC's purpose is to be a "referenced" and a "reference" journal supporting quality pharmaceutical compounding.

THE PRESENT:

IJPC is affiliated with the:

• American Pharmacists Association
• International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists
• American College of Apothecaries

IJPC is involved in supporting compounding by publishing and/or developing the following resources/services:

• International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding (Subscription-Print and Digital)
• CompoundingToday.com database (Subscription-Online)
• Compounders Network List (CNL) (Free to subscribers)
• Weekly CompoundingToday Newsletter (Free)
• Monthly Science and Technology Newsletter (Free)
• RxTriad (Marketing product: Subscription for each issue)
• Products (CDs on various compounding topics: BHRT; Cancer, Aids, and Hospice; Dental and Ophthalmic; Dermatology and Wound care; Pediatrics and Geriatrics; Pain Management; Veterinary)

IJPC-Print and Digital contains:

• Compounding technology
• Regulatory articles
• Political issues
• Peer-Reviewed studies
• Case reports
• Calculations
• Equipment reviews/comparisons
• Formulas for compounding
• Marketing articles
• Many, many other topics related to compounding
• Searchable archives on-line (www.ijpc.com website to search for articles, topics, etc. on IJPC content, as well as how to subscribe, submit articles, and other information)

IJPC is indexed by:

• MEDLINE/PubMed
• International Pharmaceutical Abstracts
• Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature Print Index and Database
• Chemical Abstracts
• Elsevier Bibliographic Databases, including: EMBASE; EMNursing; Compendex; GEOBASE; Mosby Yearbooks; Scopus
• Other specialized niche databases and derivative products

Please subscribe at: http://www.ijpc.com/Subscribe/.

CompoundingToday.com

• Formulas, Documented
• Formulas, Undocumented (Named)
• Standard Operating Procedures
• King Guide to Parenteral Admixtures
• Discontinued Medications List
• Unapproved Drugs List
• Compounding Databases: Endotoxin Levels; Base-Salt-Ester Conversions; Chemotherapy Vial Reconstitution/Stability; Disinfectants; Filter Membrane Compatibility; Flavorings; Sodium Chloride Equivalents; Oleaginous Vehicles; Oral Vehicles; pH Adjustment; Physicochemical Characteristics; Preservatives/Antioxidants; Tonicity Adjustments; and Veterinary Transdermals

New formulas and standard operating procedures are constantly being revised and added; a new category of "Named Formulas" has been added and more will be coming in 2015.

Please subscribe at: http://compoundingtoday.com/Register/

THE FUTURE:

The database is continuously updated and many other tools and a Cosmetics Formulation Database will be added in 2015. IJPC will increase its use of Augmented Reality (AR) in 2015 to enhance the reading experience. To find out more about Augmented Reality and how to use it, please visit www.ijpc.com/video/.

2014 was a busy year for compounding and for IJPC but the future seems positive as we continue to grow and to support pharmacy compounding to ensure that physicians can prescribe, and patients can receive, quality, individualized compounded medications.

News

Well, it looks like 2015 promises to be the year of the pharma negotiator. Express Scripts has wrapped up an exclusive with AbbVie, leaving drugs from Gilead Sciences and Johnson & Johnson off its national formulary. The pharmacy benefits manager's CMO Steve Miller called it "a huge deal." Express Scripts has stopped covering key Big Pharma drugs on clinical, cost-effectiveness grounds; 44 products lose out on PBM coverage with co-pay discount cards helping to trigger the move. Earlier, Novo Nordisk said it had lost Express Scripts' business on two of its top drugs, Victoza and NovoLog. More than 40 other drugs, including some of Big Pharma's newest growth prospects, got the same treatment.
http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/express-scripts-stops-covering-key-big-pharma-drugs-cost-effectiveness-grou/2013-10-10?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Continuous Manufacturing from Smaller More Numerous Facilities
GlaxoSmithKline is looking for ways to manufacture drugs more cheaply and with less impact on the environment and has been an early adopter of continuous manufacturing. Codexis says that its platform allows "rapid development of custom-designed enzymes that are highly optimized" and accomplishes this with genetic libraries, along with automated screening techniques, algorithms for the interpretation of screening data, and predictive modeling. Small molecule manufacturing may follow the same trend to help alleviate drug shortages in the future as these facilities will be capable of responding more rapidly.
http://www.fiercepharmamanufacturing.com/story/gsk-investing-25m-codexis-manufacturing-technology/2014-07-14

FDA Requests Electronic Drug Labeling—No More Paper DI for Prescribers?
The FDA wants to delete paper-based distribution of prescribing information to prescribers of drug and biological products. In a recently proposed rule, they want "to require that the prescribing information intended for healthcare professionals be distributed electronically and, with few exceptions, not in paper form."
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/FDA-Seeks-Electronic-Drug-Labeling-for-Providers-49498-1.html#Login

IJPC Now on Facebook and Youtube

Become a fan of the IJPC Facebook page and share ideas, photos, and keep up to date with the latest compounding information - http://www.facebook.com/IJPCompounding

Learn about the Journal's new multi-media features and view our growing collection of educational and training videos at www.ijpc.com/video or by subscribing to our Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/IJPCompounding.

Did You Know ...

�that IJPC and its services communicate with over 100,000 readers/users each week?

Tip of the Week

Let us know what is needed to provide additional support and resources for quality pharmaceutical compounding.

Looking Back

Whiskers long,
Made Samson strong.
But Samson's gal,
She done him wrong!
     Burma Shave