Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/1104448
Chain Drugstore Daily Saturday, April 27, 2019 8 Ascend Labs Lives Up to Its Name with Continued Growth Ascend Labs has been bucking the recent trends in the generic market by not only showing upward growth but showing sig- nificant growth. In a recent presentation, IQVIA (formerly IMS) presented statis- tics showing that generic sales dollars have declined for 30 consecutive months (through Nov/18), and that 12 of the top 20 generic companies have shown nega- tive dollar growth over the past 12 months (Source: IQVIA National Sales Perspectives, National Prescription Audit, January 2019). The reasons are many with continued product deflation and product line rationalization playing prominent roles, but Ascend has man- aged to navigate these times with a 30 percent growth rate over the past 12 months – a pace that placed it on both IQVIA's fastest growing companies list for both sales dollars and total scripts. There are several factors driving this growth. The first is continued approvals on products that are meaningful to cus- tomers. These include Esomeprazole with a full 24 months dating, Rabeprazole, and Imatinib recently and several anticipated Day 1 launches upcoming. Equally as important is that Ascend has upgraded its capacity by both expanding the existing physical plants in Damon and Baddi, India and breaking ground on what will be a significant new campus in Indore, India expected to come online in 2020. These complement additional finished dose manufacturing capacity in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. Ascend's Executive Vice President John Dillaway says, "When the Indore project is complete, we will have total capacity of over two billion tabs and caps monthly. This not only allows for anticipated new approvals, but allows us to stay in legacy items that continue to have demand in the market but may have been discontinued by oth- ers." Ascend has also stood out as a quali- ty supplier, being recognized for its high fill rates and account executives that part- ner and bring value. Schuyler VanWinkle, Ascend's Senior Account Executive, says, "While price is always important, cus- tomers know the value of a supplier that can deliver. Stores can't sell what they don't have, and inventory and fill rates have emerged as very important partner- ing statistics, and we at Ascend have tried to distinguish ourselves in this area." The combination of all of these fac- tors is allowing Ascend to live up to its name and to ascend upwards in the generic industry. With a robust pipeline and a management that is continually developing its infrastructure, Ascend looks to continue its growth for many years to come. For more information, go to www.ascendlaboratories.com or stop by booth #460. MarkeTouch Provides Intelligent, Actionable, Targeted Communications Solutions By Matt Casserly, Marketing Manager MarkeTouch is the provider of patient communication solutions for pharmacies. MarkeTouch partners with chain, hospi- tal, specialty, mail-order and independent pharmacies across North America to con- nect with patients in an efficient manner that does not impact workflow. Results include increased adherence, revenue and patient satisfaction. MarkeTouch offers multiple com- munication solutions including inbound IVR, outbound notifications, mobile and web solutions, medication synchroniza- tion (MedSync) and our Clinical Suite. These services can be utilized as stand- alone products or as a turnkey solution that offers consistent communication to patients across all platforms. All MarkeTouch services are hosted so there is no hardware or software on-site reduc- ing internal maintenance requirements. MarkeTouch differentiates itself from our competitors in several areas: MarkeTouch is the only provider in phar- macy to offer complete in-house devel- opment of turnkey patient communica- tion solutions; experience, knowledge and analytics (e.g., patients who receive text message reminders pick up prescrip- tions twice as fast as those that receive voice reminders); all services are devel- oped in the United States, and we do not use third-party contractors; connectivity to all McKesson, PDX and ComputerRx patient communication APIs; MarkeTouch- designed API to inte- grate with in-house or legacy pharmacy man- agement software; patent-pending Consumer Preference Interface, which allows patients to choose how they would like to be communicated with (via voice, text, e-mail and push notifications); bi- directional and multi-modal communica- tion (voice, text, e-mail and push notifi- cations); compliance solutions for FTC/FCC legislation including the MarkeTouch Wireless Disconnect serv- ice; ADA WCAG 2.0 compliant mobile and web applications; cost neutral, cen- tral IVR solution; and one-to-one dialer allowing pharmacies and call centers to contact patients in an efficient and track- able manner. MarkeTouch also provides superior results over the competition: 99.9 percent uptime for the entire platform; receive and deliver over 250 million communica- tions annually; reduction in return to stock by an aver- age of 40 percent; real-time refills of 20 percent; less than 1 percent opt-out; documented increase of 4 percent in PDC scores; over 50 percent enrollment in MedSync; centralized, store-based and hybrid models of MedSync; up to 50 per- cent of patients converted from voice to text; over 2 million active users enrolled in mobile applications; 4.5 million appointments scheduled annually; and average 25 percent increase in patient connect percentage. Talk to MarkeTouch today, and find out how our intelligent, actionable, target- ed communications solutions have result- ed in more effective campaigns that have increased patient adherence, satisfaction and pharmacy revenue since 2001. For more information, call 512.495.7111 or go to www.marketouchmedia.com. Blue Moose Launches Snack-Size Hummus Packs Blue Moose has just launched two new product lines in snack sizes: its Organic On The Go Hummus Snack Pack and Organic Moose Minis 100 Calorie Single Serve Cups. "With the shift in trends towards snacking, we're filling a void in the mar- ketplace to ensure our customers don't have to sacrifice convenience for quality or taste," said Tenley Satre, President of Blue Moose. "We're thrilled to be able to deliver nutrient dense organic snacks that you can truly feel good about." Organic On The Go Hummus Snack Packs buck the status quo by pairing its hummus with organic carrot sticks rather than pretzels or chips. The nutrient-packed dehydrated carrot sticks are made by Rhythm Superfoods. With 150 calories, 5g protein and 0g added sugar per container, this snack delivers real nutrition. Available in three flavors: Original, Roasted Red Pepper and Lemon Turmeric. Organic Moose Minis 100 Calorie Single Serve Cups are convenient grab- and-go containers of creamy hummus for consumers to pair with their own dippers. Available in three flavors: Original, Roasted Red Pepper and Lemon Turmeric. As with all products in Blue Moose's hummus portfolio, the new snacks are certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and non-GMO by the Non-GMO Project. They're also certified gluten free, and they're vegan and con- tain no preservatives. The new snack lines launched at the Winter Fancy Food Show, and Blue Moose has already started shipping the products.