One year ago, we announced that our company had become the sole provider of venom immunotherapy products in the U.S.—a position brought about by the departure from the market of the only other supplier. In the ensuing year, we have committed all of our resources to ensuring a long-term, consistent supply of venom products for our customers. We’re pleased to share with you this brief overview of what we’ve been working on, and advances CMS has made with reimbursements.
1. Investment in resources (machinery, employees, raw materials, supply chain).
To meet increased U.S. market demand, we invested heavily in new equipment (lyophilizer and filler), and increased stocks of raw material. An expanded workforce also facilitated an increase in production capacity.
2. BeeAware, a patient education and physician resource program.
When we created BeeAware 10 years ago, we focused predominately on patient education. With the 2018 reboot of our successful program, we added a number of resources for practitioners. We also updated our popular online physician locater which connects patients and VIT providers.
3. VIT reimbursement.
We have developed a reimbursement consultancy, including authoring a white paper on reimbursement and the need for change to the reimbursement process.In February, CMS announced their increase in VIT reimbursements, providing physicians additional incentive and flexibility to treat venom allergic patients. The increases announced: 11% single venom immunotherapy, 9% multiple venom immunotherapy and 4% venom immunotherapy injections.
To all our customers, new and old, we commit that we will continue to be your partner in venom immunotherapy, always striving to meet our goal of ensuring patient safety through consistent supply. As always, we are grateful for your business and look forward to our continued partnership as your provider of allergy immunotherapy products.
