The FDA recently eliminated the Clozapine Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS), removing the expectation from prescribers to report results of Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) blood tests before pharmacies dispense clozapine. Eliminating the REMS has left many clozapine stakeholders with questions about what this means for their practice, for pharmacies, for insurance companies, and for their patients and families. Join us as we bring together a panel of experts, including leading psychiatrists and pharmacy leaders, to discuss how we continue to make clozapine accessible and what are best practices for monitoring. There will be time for questions.
Speaker Bios
- Robert O. Cotes, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine. He is founder and Co-Director of the Clinical & Research Program for Psychosis at Grady Health System. He was Co-Director of the SMI Adviser Clozapine Center of Excellence from 2020-2024 and serves as Editor-In-Chief of Community Mental Health Journal. His research focuses on clozapine, cardiometabolic side effects of antipsychotic medication, other pharmacologic and psychosocial interventions for people with schizophrenia, and understanding the potential for digital biomarkers in mental health.
- Megan J. Ehret, PharmD, M.S., BCPP, FAAPP is Professor, Vice-Chair of Academic Affairs, and Co-Director of the Mental Health Program at the University Of Maryland School Of Pharmacy with a practice site at The University of Maryland Mid Town Campus. Additionally, she also has the privilege of working with the State of Maryland Medicaid Program in evaluating antipsychotic use in the state, including development of clinical criteria for antipsychotics and authorizing and reviewing psychotropic use in the pediatric population. She is a Past-President of AAPP and is the current BCPP Recertification Director. Dr. Ehret has worked with the State of Maryland to establish regulations permitting community pharmacists the authority to administer maintenance injections. She has developed an interactive training program for students in administering long-acting injectable medications.
- Raymond C. Love, PharmD, BCPP, FASHP, FAAPP is Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and a consultant to the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Dr. Love has been working with clozapine since before its FDA approval in the United States and published numerous articles on its use. Most recently, Dr. Love has played an integral role in organizing stakeholder groups who sought changes to or elimination of the Clozapine REMS.
- Stephen R. Marder, M.D., is a Professor of Psychiatry, and the Director of the Section on Psychosis at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He is also the Director of the VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education Clinical Center (MIRECC) for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Marder’s research has focused on improving the lives of individuals with psychotic disorders, particularly schizophrenia. His research -- supported by the VA, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the National Institute of Mental Health -- has focused on the development of pharmacological, psychosocial, and rehabilitation approaches for improving functioning and quality of life.