CVS Health CEO Merlo to Retire, Aetna Chief Lynch Tapped as Successor

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Larry Merlo, who has served as CEO of CVS Health for a decade, is stepping down from the role in February. CVS announced the news alongside its third-quarter earnings Friday morning. Karen Lynch, who is currently the president of the Aetna business segment, will take over as CEO effective Feb. 1. Lynch will also join the company’s board of directors upon assuming the CEO position. As part of the transition, Merlo will remain on the board until CVS’ next shareholder meeting in May and will also serve as a strategic adviser until fully retiring on May 31.

Specialty Drugs More Than Doubled as a Share of Retail Fills

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Specialty prescription drugs more than doubled as a share of retail fills during a seven-year period, according to a Health Affairs study released Monday afternoon. From 2010 to 2017, specialty drugs grew from a 1% share of retail fills to 2.3%, the study found. Additionally, specialty drugs accounted for 37.7% of retail and mail-order prescription spending net of rebates in 2016 and 2017. The researchers, who are affiliated with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), one of twelve agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, found that specialty drugs accounted for nearly half of total spending on retail, mail-order, and provider administered drugs in 2018.

AHF Acquires San Diego’s Hillcrest Pharmacy Locations

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AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is pleased to announce that its AHF Pharmacy division acquired Hillcrest Pharmacy, a well-respected three location specialty pharmacy with nearly two decades of high-quality customer service to San Diego communities and is one of the premier specialty pharmacies in California. Hillcrest joins AHF Pharmacy’s network of 56 specialty pharmacy sites located across 15 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico. Hillcrest Pharmacy will retain its name while co-branded with AHF Pharmacy.

Walgreens Boots Alliance and McKesson Complete the Formation of German Wholesale Joint Venture

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Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) and McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) today announced the completion of their previously announced agreement to create a joint venture combining their respective pharmaceutical wholesale businesses in Germany, Alliance Healthcare Deutschland (AHD) and GEHE Pharma Handel (GEHE). WBA holds a 70 percent controlling equity interest in the joint venture and McKesson holds the remaining 30 percent interest.

Sheridan Capital Partners-Backed Tarrytown Expocare Completes Two Acquisitions

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Tarrytown Expocare (“Tarrytown” or “The Company”), a portfolio company of Sheridan Capital Partners, announced today the completed acquisitions of Long’s Drugs, located in Thomson, Georgia, Long’s Closed-Door Pharmacy, located in Columbia, South Carolina, and Adler’s Pharmacy LTC, located in Cherry Hill, NJ. These acquisitions are the latest completed by Tarrytown as the Company continues expanding into new states in order to provide quality care to the Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled populations. The Company now serves individuals in 13 states. In addition to successfully completing these acquisitions, Tarrytown initiated pharmacy services to an additional 1,100 individuals in group homes over the past twelve months. Tarrytown Expocare (“Tarrytown”) is a national long-term care pharmacy that serves individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (“IDD”).

HealthDirect Pharmacy Services Adds Family Pharmacy Services to Portfolio

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HealthDirect Pharmacy Services has acquired Family Pharmacy Healthcare, its 26th long-term care pharmacy location. The 43-year-old Family pharmacy includes the long-term pharmacy business and a single long-term care location in southwest Missouri. The acquisition will allow HealthDirect to expand support and service capabilities in existing locations in Missouri and Kansas.

Health Systems Join Forces to Launch Specialty Pharmacy Alliance

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Eight of the nation’s leading health systems and other network providers of specialty pharmacy patient care joined together today to form The Health System Owned Specialty Pharmacy Alliance (HOSP). HOSP will focus on advocating for the interests of integrated specialty pharmacies and promoting best practices that enable them to deliver the best patient care and patient outcomes. “HOSP will act as the ‘face and voice’ of the integrated specialty pharmacy industry advocating for, and uniting members around, common industry interests and concerns,” said Tanya Menchi, executive director, HOSP. “We believe the integrated health system owned specialty pharmacy model is the best way to deliver exceptional patient care and outcomes. The industry needs its own voice. HOSP’s goal is to help bring the industry together so they have a seat at the table and ensure that their interests are represented.”

Rite Aid to Acquire Bartell Drugs

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Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) and Bartell Drugs announced Wednesday they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Rite Aid will acquire Bartell Drugs. Founded in 1890, family-owned Bartell Drugs generates over $550 million in revenue and fills approximately 5.5 million prescriptions annually across its 67 stores in Seattle and throughout King, Snohomish and Pierce counties in Washington state. Bartell Drugs’ stores join Rite Aid’s existing 69 Seattle area stores and will continue to operate under the Bartell Drugs name. The purchase price is $95 million.

Tabula Rasa HealthCare Expands CareVention HealthCare Offerings with the Addition of PersonifilRx and Pharmastar

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Tabula Rasa HealthCare, Inc. (“TRHC”) (NASDAQ: TRHC), a healthcare technology company advancing the field of medication safety, today announced the acquisition of Personica, LLC and its subsidiaries PersonifilRx, Pharmastar and PersonifilRx New England (collectively, “Personica”), a provider of pharmacy services, including 340B and Medicare Part D administration solutions to Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (“PACE”). “For many years we worked closely with the Personica team to serve the pharmacy needs of our PACE clients, and we have long admired the highly-respected business their team built,” said TRHC Chairman and CEO, Calvin H. Knowlton, PhD. “This addition to our CareVention HealthCare Business Unit increases our pharmacy footprint and advances our pharmacy offering to serve 340B entities, which represent some of the largest PACE programs.”

PharMerica Acquires OnePoint Patient Care

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PharMerica completed the acquisition of OnePoint Patient Care (OPPC) on Wednesday. OPPC is one of the nation’s largest (and the largest non-payer owned) provider of dedicated hospice pharmacy and pharmacy benefits management (PBM) services, serving more than 350 unique hospice providers. OPPC is the only hospice pharmacy provider of scale offering same-day local dispensing and delivery through owned pharmacies, a key differentiator and enabler of optimal customer service. OPPC operates 15 pharmacy locations across the United States today.