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
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — At presstime The Wall Street Journal along with other news agencies reported that CVS Health will offer more than $200 per share, or about $66 billion, to purchase the health insurance giant Aetna Inc. Anonymous sources cited by WSJ originated the story about a potential CVS-Aetna deal. The possible transaction comes as
Amazon has quietly received approvals for pharmacy wholesale licenses from at least a dozen state pharmacy boards, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday. Those states are Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon and Tennessee. Another pharmacy distribution license application is pending in Maine, the report said. Amazon
NEW YORK — The retail pharmacy market may soon face an unwelcome challenge from e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. According to a recent report by CNBC, the company has hired a number of people from the pharmacy industry and is conducting a search for a general manager to lead a team and create a strategy. The
Amazon’s success as a pioneer of online retailing is unquestioned, and it continues to be a disruptor to brick-and-mortar retailers (most recently, grocery retailers). But the e-tail giant’s alternatives in the pharmacy space — which CNBC reported it has targeted — aren’t so clear cut, according to pharmacy supply chain expert Adam Fein. “I would
NEW YORK — Entering the second quarter of 2017, the chain drug industry was awaiting answers to a couple of big, lingering questions. First, what will the chain drug landscape look like? A significant change in the field of players is likely in store pending antitrust clearance of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s (WBA’s) deal to
The rapid growth of the specialty pharmacy sector, fueled by high-priced specialty drugs, remains one of the leading story lines in the pharmacy industry. Compared with the retail pharmacy arena, the field of players in the specialty Rx market has yet to shake out. But pharmaceutical supply chain and economics expert Adam Fein, CEO of
CVS Health’s scaled-back 2017 guidance, given in its third-quarter report this week, spotlights an intensifying competitive battle with rival Walgreens Boots Alliance. CVS reported that for fiscal 2017 it expects to lose over 40 million retail prescriptions due to marketplace changes, notably narrower retail pharmacy networks excluding CVS Pharmacy drug stores. The announcement sent CVS
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has become the latest retailer to ally with a pharmaceutical distributor for generic drug sourcing. The mass merchandiser’s partnership with McKesson Corp. includes an expanded long-term distribution pact and will add scale and value for both companies, they said. The agreement positions Walmart and McKesson to compete with partnerships between Walgreens
The expanded distribution agreement between McKesson and Walmart not only brings McKesson a generic drug customer it had been pursuing, but it also “finalizes an intriguing industry channel alignment,” according to pharmacy supply chain expert Adam Fein, president of Pembroke Consulting. In a posting Tuesday on his Drug Channels blog, Fein noted that Walmart was
NEW YORK — Going forward, chain drug stores can bank on the same underlying trends that have fueled the retail pharmacy business in recent years. But the industry as they’ve known it won’t look quite the same. Retailer consolidation, changes in drug purchasing and the influx of specialty drugs are reshaping the competitive arena, industry
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is partnering with OptumRx to create a new pharmacy benefit to meet consumers’ changing prescription drug needs and help employers, health plans and their members achieve better health outcomes and greater cost savings. OptumRx is UnitedHealth Group’s freestanding pharmacy care services business, managing more than a billion prescriptions annually. Through a
The presence of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) across the pharmacy care sector continues to broaden and deepen. Over two days earlier this month, WBA unveiled an integrated pharmacy offering with PBM OptumRx and then announced that it’s boosting its equity stake in drug distributor AmerisourceBergen. The highlight of the offering with OptumRx is that members
Though the number of walk-in clinics in retail pharmacies has surged over the years, 2016 stands to see slow growth, says Adam Fein, CEO of the Drug Channels Institute. This week, Fein posted an overview of the retail clinic arena on his Drug Channels blog, including a chart listing the top players — CVS (MinuteClinic),
