CAMP HILL, Pa. — The merger of Albertsons Cos. and Rite Aid Corp. will create a “truly differentiated” player in the food, health and wellness space, John Standley, chairman and chief executive officer of Rite Aid, said when the deal was announced late last month. The proposed merger will transform Rite Aid through the addition
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — George Riedl, senior vice president at Walmart and president of the Walmart Health and Wellness division, has left the company. A Walmart spokeswoman said that Riedl, a key pharmacy executive at the retail giant, departed effective March 16. The company didn’t say if a successor had been named. A former Walgreens executive,
BLOOMFIELD, Conn. — Another blockbuster merger is adding momentum to the consolidation wave sweeping through the health care sector, and again crossing industry segments. Health insurer Cigna Corp. plans to acquire pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts in a $67 billion cash and stock deal. Under the agreement, unveiled earlier this month, Cigna will pay Express
NEW YORK — It is a pivotal juncture for the beauty care category in the drug channel. Retailers and brands need to devise a game plan to wrest the business away from prestige power players. Sales in cosmetics, skin care and grooming are firing on all cylinders — but sadly, not in the mass beauty
SEATTLE— Amazon.com plans to offer discounts on its Amazon Prime service to Medicaid recipients. Low-income individuals who are eligible for the government health insurance program will be able to sign up for Prime for $5.99 a month, a $7 discount from its standard monthly cost of $12.99. To qualify for the Amazon Prime Medicaid discount,
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) recently announced the appointment of James Kehoe as the company’s executive vice president and global chief financial officer, effective June 1. Kehoe will succeed George Fairweather, who has served as WBA’s global CFO since February 2015. Fairweather has been instrumental in the formation of WBA, the subsequent integration
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Total health care spending in the U.S. climbed to $3.4 trillion in 2016 and is expected to reach $5.5 trillion by 2020, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. With these costs on the rise, the adoption of wellness incentive programs by health care plans is becoming very popular. Earlier
DANBURY, Conn. — The types of medicines being developed, the way technology contributes to health and how the value of health is calculated are all changing dramatically, according to a new report from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. The IQVIA study, “2018 and Beyond: Outlook and Turning Points,” looks at several health care
EDMONTON, Alberta — Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) has expanded its access to medical marijuana products by entering into a supply agreement with Aurora Cannabis Inc. Aurora said that under the pact it will supply SDM with Aurora-branded medical cannabis products. The agreement is pending Health Canada’s approval of the pharmacy retailer’s application to be a
ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores took part in this month’s White House Opioid Summit as it continues to give retail pharmacy’s take on how to combat the opioid abuse epidemic. Kevin Nicholson, vice president of public policy and regulatory affairs at NACDS, represented the association at the March 1 event,
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health chief policy and external affairs officer Tom Moriarty spoke to attendees at the AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) National Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month about ways the company is addressing the high cost of prescription drugs for payers and consumers. Moriarty highlighted a variety of approaches, including
BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Cos. has tapped retail veteran Jim Donald, former president and chief executive officer of Starbucks Corp., to serve as its new president and chief operating officer. In his new role, Donald will have responsibility for the operations of the retailer’s more than 2,300 stores and will help drive the growth of
An understanding of the value created by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ annual RxImpact Day — for the policy makers and pharmacy advocates who participated, the pharmacy profession as a whole and, ultimately, patients across the country — came into sharp focus during the daylong series of meetings on Capitol Hill that is
New product launches have a notoriously high failure rate. In fact, Nielsen once pegged the failure rate of new consumer packaged goods at a staggering 85%. Launches can come in many forms, including line extensions, such as a new size or flavor within a family, “me-toos” (copycat product from a different brand) and original innovations.
