NEW YORK — Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s (WBA’s) top executives marked the close of a busy first week as a new company by ringing the opening bell January 9 at the Nasdaq Stock Market, where the company now trades under the “WBA” ticker symbol. Moments later, in an interview with financial network CNBC, executive vice chairman
SEATTLE — Brian Unmacht has been named president of Bartell Drugs, becoming the first person outside the Bartell family to hold the title at the 125-year-old chain. nmacht, 54, former executive vice president and chief operating officer at retailer REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) has served as a member of Bartell’s board of directors since 2011. The
EDMONTON, Alberta — “Advocating for an enlarged role for pharmacists in the delivery of health services to patients in this province was very much a combined activity by the Alberta College of Pharmacy and my organization,” says Margaret Wing, chief executive officer of Alberta Pharmacists’ Association (RxA). Wing was quick to point out that the leadership
WASHINGTON — Nearly 6.5 million consumers selected a health insurance plan or were automatically reenrolled under the Affordable Care Act in November and December. And 87% of people who selected 2015 plans through HealthCare.gov in the first month of open enrollment are getting subsidies to lower premiums, the government reported. “We’re pleased that nationwide, millions of
NEW YORK — A stellar December capped a strong year for chain drug retailers. Industry sales for chain drug stores advanced 5.8% in 2014, with same-store dollar volume climbing 4.6%. Both numbers were up by more than a full point from 2013, when total volume advanced 4.4% and comparable-store sales rose 3.1%. Walgreen Co. shined
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. has promoted Jocelyn Zazyczny Konrad to group vice president, pharmacy initiatives and clinical services. Konrad, who was vice president, health care initiatives, succeeds Karen Staniforth. Staniforth was recently promoted to chief operating officer at Health Dialog, a subsidiary of Rite Aid. Konrad is a licensed pharmacist with more
CAMP HILL, Pa. — In a promotion designed to reward its most loyal customers, Rite Aid Corp. began 2015 with a special offer to its wellness+ members. For every $50 spent in Rite Aid stores through January 24, the wellness+ members receive lifestyle and entertainment rewards. Customers who are members of the free wellness+ loyalty program
WASHINGTON — The Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA) is praising the Food and Drug Administration for its flexibility pertaining to new product tracing rules, specifically on the FDA’s recently released guidance titled “Product Tracing Requirements — Compliance Policy.” The association had sent letters to the regulatory agency in November and then again last month in
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health and Gilead Sciences have reached a deal to make Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs, Harvoni and Sovaldi, the exclusive option for patients on its commercial drug list, as well as for those it manages on health care exchanges, Medicare Part D and Medicaid. The move partly counteracts a recent decision by
WASHINGTON — Providing incentives to prescription drug plan sponsors that increase generic drug use is among recommendations that the Senate Special Committee on Aging unveiled last month in a bipartisan report that focuses on ways to increase the utilization of generics within the Medicare Part D program. The panel also heard about industry issues beyond
WASHINGTON — A Food and Drug Administration panel has recommended that the agency approve what could become the country’s first biosimilar. The panel unanimously urged approval of Sandoz’s filgrastin (Neupogen), a cancer treatment. “This encouraging step forward means that it is very likely now only a question of when, rather than if, filgrastin will be available
The cataclysmic changes within the chain drug retailing community, whatever their ultimate implications for America’s largest drug chains and for the industry in general, are putting the country’s regional drug chains more glaringly in the spotlight. Indeed, not only are America’s smaller drug chains more professionally managed and operated than they have yet been, they
In the not-too-distant past community pharmacy was correctly perceived as a conservative business whose members were intent on operating within a well-defined set of parameters and not rocking the boat. A generation ago it wasn’t uncommon to hear members of the profession joke about what they did as “lick, stick and pour.” The industry as
