DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. has developed what it says is an improved Prescription Savings Club program. Executives say they hope the program will help address what the company sees as a growing problem. Some estimates, they note, show that as many as one in four adults in the United States don’t have sufficient prescription
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Pharmacy benefits management clients of CVS Caremark Corp. saved nearly $2.4 billion in 2011, in part because of the company’s focus on providing medication adherence programs for patients with chronic conditions. In its annual Insights Report, which reviews drug trend and highlights key issues in pharmacy care, CVS Caremark notes that the
TORONTO — Appearing at his first Shoppers Drug Mart annual meeting, Domenic Pilla, the company’s new president and chief executive officer, outlined the drug chain’s opportunities and challenges. Items listed by Pilla included the following: • The Shoppers Optimum Card, with its 10 million holders, is a rich resource that the drug chain is increasingly
TORONTO — Shoppers Drug Mart is acquiring Paragon Pharmacies Ltd. in a transaction in which SDM will gain from Paragon 19 retail pharmacies and three central fill pharmacies in British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba. The deal is valued at an estimated $75 million in cash. Completion of the transaction is subject to the approval of
One of the most productive tenures in the annals of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores ended two months ago when H-E-B executive Bob Loeffler stepped down as chairman of the association. Loeffler assumed the chairmanship at the 2011 NACDS Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., and handed the gavel to Walgreens chief executive officer
Amid all the attention directed at Walmart’s recent annual meeting, where the hoopla surrounding the discounter’s golden anniversary celebration vied with concerns voiced by many shareholders about the bribery scandal that hit the company in April, one important development has received less attention than it otherwise would have: Walmart Express, the company’s experimental small-format stores,
PALM BEACH, Fla. — If George W. Bush, who offered insights about his years as president to a standing-room-only crowd during the final business session at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Annual Meeting here last month, can rightly be called the event’s headliner, the substantive remarks about the business at hand, community pharmacy,
PALM BEACH, Fla. — During the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Annual Meeting here last month, Greg Wasson, the organization’s new chairman, exuded a sense of confidence despite the considerable challenges faced by the industry. The view that the future of community pharmacy has never been brighter stems from Wasson’s 32 years at Walgreen
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp. is right where it needs to be to thrive in today’s increasingly complex health care market, president and chief executive officer Larry Merlo said at the company’s annual shareholders meeting here. By leveraging its unique business model — which integrates a drug store chain, a retail clinic operation and
PITTSBURGH — Pharmacy advocates are pressing ahead with a lawsuit to stop the merger of Express Scripts Inc. and Medco Health Solutions Inc. despite a judge’s refusal to grant a preliminary injunction freezing the transaction. On April 25 U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon rejected a motion from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and
TORONTO — The Ontario government is consulting with pharmacy industry stakeholders on achieving $55 million (Canadian) in savings in drug spending, according to the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (CACDS). While the government initially announced a flat payment reduction from 25% to 20% of brand name equivalents for the top 10 generic drugs, subsequent
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. has added to a debt offering initiated earlier this year, drawing a favorable response from credit rating agencies. The drug chain plans to issue $426 million in senior unsecured notes due in 2020 to help fund a refinancing of debt. This month the company began a cash tender
LANGLEY, British Columbia — Sue Paish will end her five-year stint as head of Pharmasave Drugs when she leaves the company later this month to become chief executive officer at the laboratory testing services provider LifeLabs Inc. Pharmasave’s national board of directors has named chief financial officer Zvonko Maretic as interim CEO. He assumes that
LONGUEUIL, Quebec — The Jean Coutu Group has sold 56 million shares of Rite Aid Corp., reducing its interest in Rite Aid’s outstanding common shares to 19.85%. The sale, at $1.51 per share, netted $83.6 million. The gain will be recorded in Coutu’s net profit during the first quarter of fiscal 2013, since the carrying
