SEATTLE — Amazon.com has sent a major tremor through the retail pharmacy industry with its planned acquisition of PillPack, an online pharmacy that organizes prescriptions and vitamin supplements into daily dosage packets and delivers them to patients’ homes. The deal, which Bloomberg News values at about $1 billion citing “a person familiar with the matter,”
ARLINGTON, Va. — Reverse distribution of pharmaceutical products accounts for 3.5% to 4% of all pharmaceutical sales — more than 120 million product units — and exceeds $13 billion in value, according to a new report from the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) Research Foundation. Reverse distribution involves moving unsold salable inventory within, or removing unsalable
Amazon’s long anticipated, much ballyhooed entry into the retail pharmacy sector has finally taken place. The e-commerce powerhouse in late June agreed to pay a billion dollars to purchase PillPack, which packages prescription medications in presorted doses, along with over-the-counter health care products and nutritional supplements, and delivers them directly to patients’ homes. Cofounded in
All indications are that CVS Health’s $77 billion acquisition of Aetna is on track to be finalized by the end of the year. The transaction has won the approval of shareholders at both companies, and the management team for the combined organization has been named, even as the government’s review of the deal has proceeded
NEW YORK — Driven by the 21st Century Cures Act, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has publicly stated a goal of moving the FDA into the new century by creating a regulatory process that is modern and efficient. It doesn’t seem all that long ago, about 1992, that the Prescription Drug User Fee
ARLINGTON, Va. — Retired four-star general and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency Michael Hayden will address the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Total Store Expo (TSE) on Sunday, August 26, in Denver as the keynote speaker during the event’s Business Program. At the session, Hayden will provide the
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens last month said it will open a new 200,000-square-foot corporate facility in the former Chicago Post Office building. The company expects 1,800 people will work in the new offices, with some 1,300 of the jobs being relocated from other offices. The company’s headquarters, and about 3,200 jobs, will remain here. Alex
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Humana Inc. and Walgreens have partnered to provide easier access to primary care and other services for seniors as part of the two companies’ ongoing and shared commitment to the health and well-being of people in the Kansas City area. The companies said the collaboration will establish a senior-focused neighborhood approach to
NOVI, Mich. — The Chain Drug Marketing Association’s (CDMA’s) board of directors announced last month the resignation of John Devine as its president. Devine, whose last day as president was June 22, stepped down to pursue other opportunities, according to CDMA. Devine has served CDMA in a number of roles since he began in 2012,
LAKELAND, Fla. — As of June 1, Dain Rusk joined Publix Super Markets Inc. as vice president of pharmacy. In his new role, Rusk oversees pharmacy retail operations and the pharmacy retail business unit, including pharmacy central fill, specialty pharmacy, managed care programs, and collaboration efforts with hospitals and health care centers. He reports to
BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Cos. has teamed up with Genomind to offer customers with mental illness a genetic test that could lead to improved results from medication therapy. Under the collaboration, pharmacy patients at certain Albertsons, Jewel-Osco and Acme stores can obtain free information about Genomind’s genetic test, called the Genecept Assay, which identifies patient-specific
PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Thrifty White Drug Stores and PrescribeWellness have entered into a partnership that aims to deliver software solutions to pharmacists that will help them provide better customer care. Thrifty White expects the PrescribeCare platform from PrescribeWellness will give its pharmacists a single view of each patient, their medications and opportunities for engagement. Employee-owned
WASHINGTON — States can collect sales tax from online sellers even if those companies don’t have a physical presence in the state, the Supreme Court ruled last month in a case with far-reaching implications for online commerce. “The physical presence rule has long been criticized as giving out-of-state sellers an advantage,” the court said in
NEW YORK — Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) late last month took its place alongside Boeing, Merck & Co., Walmart and other large, publicly traded U.S. companies that comprise the Dow Jones industrial average, the stock index that tracks daily trading in 30 of the world’s best-known blue chips. General Electric Co. was dropped to make
