Leadership Lens Q&A Series:

Clearway Health leaders share career and specialty pharmacy insight, knowledge and advice in the company’s Leadership Lens Q&A series. This Leadership Lens features Brandon Newman, PharmD, MMHC, CSP, Clearway Health’s CEO, who joined Clearway Health in November of 2025.

Question and Answer:

Q: What drew you to Clearway Health at this point in your career?

A: I'm a pharmacist by training, and I've been working in the pharmacy industry for about 20 years. I started my specialty pharmacy career at Novafactor, an independent specialty pharmacy. Then in 2012, I had the opportunity to start a specialty pharmacy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. This opportunity was a career-changing moment for me. At that point, there really were not a lot of health system specialty pharmacies around. My experience at Vanderbilt University Medical Center opened my eyes to what was possible and gave me a purview of all the great work that could be done in this area.

Fast forward seven years, and I saw the specialty pharmacy industry evolve at warp speed. When I heard about this opportunity with Clearway Health, I could not pass it up. I've been watching Clearway Health for some time from afar and admiring the progress and growth in the market. I love the brand and how we show up, and I’m very passionate about the mission of the company.

Q: What initially attracted you to specialty pharmacy?

A: I pursued a career in pharmacy because I wanted to help people live better lives. Growing up, I saw pharmacists as the people in white coats behind the counter dispensing medications and answering questions about over-the-counter products. I was completely content with the idea of building a career in that traditional role. However, during pharmacy school, I had the opportunity to work as an intern at a specialty pharmacy, where I worked directly with patients living with multiple sclerosis. Through these meaningful, ongoing interactions, I saw firsthand how personalized care, education and support can significantly improve a patient’s quality of life. That experience transformed my perspective of the profession and made me realize that this was the path I wanted to pursue.

Q: What has kept you committed to the field? 

A: Many patients who receive a diagnosis requiring specialty medication are facing some of the most difficult news of their lives. In many cases, they require lifelong treatment, and often, there is no cure. Having the opportunity to help patients slow the progression of their disease and truly understand how to manage their treatment regimens is incredibly rewarding to me.

Q: Relative to the future of specialty pharmacy, what are your thoughts on 340B and potential changes happening in the industry right now?

A: The 340B Program was created in 1992 to help ensure that underserved patients have access to the care they deserve. Through this program, hospitals and safety-net providers can purchase outpatient medications at discounted prices, allowing them to stretch limited resources and better serve vulnerable populations. Hospitals depend on the 340B Program to care for their community’s most at-risk patients, including those who are uninsured, underinsured or facing significant financial hardships. While the rules and regulatory requirements surrounding the program continue to evolve, it is difficult to imagine its dissolution. The consequences for patients would be severe, and many hospitals would struggle to keep their doors open without the financial support the program provides. Although navigating the program’s rules and compliance standards is becoming increasingly complex, the 340B Program remains a critical component of the healthcare safety net and is positioned to continue playing that role for the foreseeable future.

The 340B Program has always been a hot topic. For the last 20 years, people have talked about the possibility of reform that would shake things up. Those who have made a bet on the 340B Program sticking around have won, and those who have bet on 340B not being around long have lost. What the 340B Program does for hospitals allows them to take care of their most vulnerable patients. As hospitals continue to struggle to make money in other ways, there are not many areas where they can provide better care for patients and still generate dollars at a strong margin to take care of their most needy, vulnerable patients. The 340B Program and an entity-owned specialty pharmacy is one of the ways they can do that.

I do see the specialty pharmacy landscape changing. We will continue to see evolution with the Inflation Reduction Act and in other legislative areas such as Medicare Maximum Fair Price. Another thing driving my optimism is the many new specialty medications hitting the market every day, which is really fascinating. When I first started working in specialty pharmacy, it felt like it was just a handful of drugs, and now when you look at the drug pipeline, most of the medications launching are specialty medications.

I am confident about the future of the 340B Program and the work we are doing to help our clients optimize their programs with strong clinical, operational and financial performance. Specialty pharmacy care is best delivered locally by hospitals and health systems.

Q: As you step into this role, what impact are you most excited about making in your first year?

A: As a pharmacist, improving patient care has always been near and dear to me. I’m truly impressed by the outstanding work Clearway Health does to ensure patients achieve the best possible clinical outcomes. I look forward to supporting the Clearway Health team and continuing to highlight the incredible impact we are making in transforming the specialty pharmacy experience for clients and their patients.

I want all patients to benefit from Clearway Health’s specialty pharmacy services. Everything we do in terms of growth will be focused on improving the care of patients and the number of patients we can reach. I’m excited to lead Clearway Health into ongoing growth, and I feel confident our team will take us there.