December 11, 2017 by Bill Schiffner
Aetna, Amazon, Brian Tanquilut, CVS Health, CVS Pharmacy, CVS-Aetna merger, Jefferies, Larry Merlo, Mark Bertolini, MinuteClinic
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health plans to acquire health insurer Aetna for roughly $69 billion in a first-of-its kind deal aimed at fending off challenges in retail and health care. The landmark CVS-Aetna merger deal comes at time when insurers are under pressure to lower medical costs, and retailers are under attack from new competitors,
December 11, 2017 by Bill Schiffner
AmerisourceBergen, Dale Smith, H.D. Smith, H.D. Smith Holding Co., pharmaceutical distributor, Steve Collis, Valley Wholesale Drug
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — AmerisourceBergen Corp. plans to purchase pharmaceutical distributor H.D. Smith for $815 million in cash. The companies said that the transaction, pending regulatory review and other closing conditions, is expected to close in early 2018. Springfield, Ill.-based H.D. Smith, the nation’s largest private wholesaler, also operates CompleteCare Pharmacy, Smith Medical Partners, Triplefin
December 11, 2017 by Bill Schiffner
Bill Bergin, Bill Renz, Bill Romine, Bryan Everett, Bryan Shirtliff, Nate Newcomer, Rite Aid, Rob Mullins, Ted Williams, Tony Montini
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. has announced a number of changes in senior management that are effective immediately. Bill Renz, Rite Aid’s current group vice president of consumables and photo, has been named senior vice president of category management. Renz joined Rite Aid in 1998 as director of general merchandise and photo. He
December 11, 2017 by Bill Schiffner
John Hammergren, McKesson, Paul Julian
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
SAN FRANCISCO — Paul Julian, executive vice president and group president at McKesson Corp., is slated to retire at the end of the year. Julian currently has senior operating responsibility for McKesson’s domestic and international Distribution Solutions businesses, including pharmaceutical distribution, medical-surgical distribution, specialty health and retail pharmacy systems and automation. As president of McKesson
December 11, 2017 by Bill Schiffner
François Coutu, Jean Coutu, Jean Coutu Group, Jean Coutu-Metro merger, McMahon Distributeur Pharmaceutique, Metro Inc.
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
MONTREAL — Jean Coutu Group shareholders have overwhelmingly approved the sale of the pharmacy chain to fellow Quebec retailer Metro Inc. A near-unanimous 99.9% of votes cast sanctioned the $4.5 billion transaction, which was well above the two-thirds requirement. Shareholders of Coutu are being offered a combination of cash and stock worth about $24.50 per
December 11, 2017 by Geoff Walden and Chain Drug Review
John Standley, Rite Aid, Stefano Pessina, Walgreens, Walgreens-Rite Aid merger
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Walgreens Boots Alliance has taken over the first 97 of its acquired Rite Aid Corp. stores. WBA purchased 1,932 stores under a revised deal with Rite Aid after the government thwarted its acquisition of the entire chain. WBA also picked up three distribution centers and related inventory from Rite Aid as
December 11, 2017 by Geoff Walden and Chain Drug Review
Adam Fein, Amazon, Amazon and Pharmacy Retail, Amazon's U.S. Pharmacy Opportunity, Charles Rhyee, Cowen, Fung Global Retail & Technology, Pembroke Consulting
2017, Business, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, Leading Headlines, News, Retail News
NEW YORK — While rumors of Amazon’s entry into pharmacy continue to swirl, some analysts are questioning just how significant the move would be. “Amazon’s U.S. Pharmacy Opportunity: Not Necessarily A Game Changer,” is the title of a report by Cowen. For its part, Fung Global Retail & Technology said the online retailer’s pursuit of
December 11, 2017 by Bill Schiffner
customer loyalty program, Galen Weston, Loblaw, PC Optimum, PC Plus, retail loyalty programs, Shoppers Drug Mart, Shoppers Optimum
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
TORONTO — Next year, Loblaw Cos. plans to roll out a unified customer loyalty program that joins together the Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus plans of its Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) and supermarket chains. Called PC Optimum, the combined loyalty program will allow members to earn and redeem loyalty points across Loblaw’s network of nearly
December 11, 2017 by Bill Schiffner
Affordable Care Act, Alex Azar, Eli Lilly, Health and Human Services Secretary, Patty Murray, Rand Paul, Senate health committee, Tom Price
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News, Pharmacy, Retail News
WASHINGTON — Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical executive named by President Trump to be the next Health and Human Services secretary, told senators at a full committee nomination hearing that making prescription drugs more affordable would be one of his top priorities. “Drug prices are too high,” Azar said to the Senate health committee at
December 11, 2017 by Brian Bossetta
Glen Pietrandoni, HIV testing, OraQuick In-Home HIV Test Retail Access Card, OraSure Technologies, Walgreens
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens and OraSure Technologies Inc., a provider of point-of-care diagnostic tests and specimen collection devices, are teaming up to fight AIDS. The companies announced several new HIV testing-related initiatives in recognition of World AIDS Day on December 1. OraSure is working with the AIDS Institute, a national nonprofit that promotes social change
December 11, 2017 by Chain Drug Review
FastMed Urgent Care, Health Dialog, RediClinic, Rite Aid, Web Golinkin
2017, Issue 12-11-2017, Issues, News
PHOENIX — Web Golinkin, chief executive officer of Rite Aid Corp. subsidiaries RediClinic and Health Dialog, has left the companies to become CEO of FastMed Urgent Care. FastMed said Golinkin will oversee its more than 100 walk-in urgent care clinics in Arizona, Texas and North Carolina. FastMed clinics provide a range of acute/episodic and preventive
December 11, 2017 by Chain Drug Review
antibiotic resistance, community pharmacy, Gigi Kwik Gronvall, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Morning Consult, NACDS, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, opioid abuse epidemic, Steve Anderson
Issue 12-11-2017, News
ARLINGTON, Va. — Steve Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and Gigi Kwik Gronvall, senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, discussed the increasingly important role pharmacists are playing in public health in a recent op-ed published in Morning Consult. In the opinion piece,
December 11, 2017 by Carol Cruickshank, Bachul Koul and Chain Drug Review
A.T. Kearney, Bachul Koul, Carol Cruickshank, Millennial consumers, Millennial shoppers
Issue 12-11-2017, Leading Headlines, Opinion
Millennials have been a hot topic of conversation for more than a decade. It’s the one generational group that continues to confound both employers and retailers: How do we attract them, engage them and retain them? Yet a majority of employees and shoppers are them. Identified as those born between 1981 and 1997, Millennials became
December 11, 2017 by Chain Drug Review
AI-powered data analytics, artificial intelligence, CVS Pharmacy, Fung Global Retail & Technology
Issue 12-11-2017, Opinion
NEW YORK — It sounds like a science fiction plot: machines and computers operating with intelligent and human-like behavior. But artificial intelligence (AI) is real and relevant to any task involving the intellect, and AI applications affect nearly all aspects of modern human life. In industry, AI is so ubiquitous that it often goes unnoticed,