Content about Major

ST. LOUIS — Price inflation for the most commonly used branded drugs has been more than six times that of overall inflation for consumer goods since September 2011, according to a new report by pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.

DENVER — Ibotta on Friday officially launched its free mobile application for iPhone users that gives consumers a new way to earn as much as $40 in cash each time they shop. With Ibotta, consumers earn cash rewards for answering a trivia question, watching videos and/or providing feedback on their favorite products, then buying the products in major national retailers, such as Walmart, Target and Walgreens.  

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — iHealth Labs on Tuesday announced that its latest suite of products will be available for purchase at major retailers and online later this month. The iHealth wireless blood pressure wrist monitor, wireless blood pressure monitor and wireless body analysis scale are already available at Best Buy and iHealthlabs.com, the company added. 

CHICAGO — A study published Monday online by JAMA may skew the conversation over multivitamin use negatively, despite the fact that study authors maintain the study cannot be generalized across the general population given the study's subjects — namely, practicing physicians. 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Watson Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday announced the sale of its Rugby over-the-counter business to the Harvard Drug Group — a distributor and provider of private-label OTCs and generic prescription products under the Major Pharmaceuticals brand — for approximately $117 million.  

"I am confident that Major, with its leadership position as a marketer of OTC products, will be more strategically positioned to maximize the value of the long-known and respected Rugby name," stated Paul Bisaro, president and CEO of Watson.

NEW YORK — Through a $100,000 gift to the Fashion Institute of Technology, an endowed scholarship has been established by cosmetics executive Leslie Blodgett, creator of BareMinerals and executive chairman of Bare Escentuals.

Blodgett is a 1985 graduate of FIT's Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing program.

CINCINNATI — Over the course of a day-long investor conference Tuesday, Kroger outlined its future growth strategy. Across its physical store base, Kroger plans to enter one or two as-yet-to-be-named new markets along with boosting presence in existing markets. But Kroger also has significant designs on the multichannel consumer, and outlined for analysts the grocer's plan to grow its marketshare across the digital landscape as well.

When National Association of Chain Drug Stores president and CEO Steve Anderson earlier this year at NACDS Annual urged pharmacy leaders to be “disruptive innovators,” and new NACDS chairman and Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson called on the industry to embrace a holistic view of the total store in improving patient lives, they easily could have submitted Walgreens and its Take Care Health Systems subsidiary as an ideal case study.


EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Supervalu recently received multiple national honors for its sustainability efforts, the retailer announced Tuesday. First, the company is featured in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s 2012 “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index,” which honors companies for both environmental performance and transparency in this area. Supervalu received the highest score among national grocery retailers in this report. 

TAMPA, Fla. — The retail health clinic and urgent care center market currently is worth about $10 billion and is poised for strong growth in the coming years as the shortage of primary care physicians and crowded emergency rooms increasingly move patients to retail sites, according to new data by Marketdata Enterprises, an independent market research publisher.

NEW YORK — During Tuesday morning’s Morgan Stanley Healthcare Conference in New York City, CVS Caremark president and CEO Larry Merlo expressed optimism for a strong second half of the year and confidence in retaining a large portion of the prescription volumes gained from the Walgreens-Express Scripts impasse.

CHICAGO — The University of Chicago Medicine and Walgreens are teaming up to launch a "Food Rx" initiative that will help people with diabetes improve their eating habits by overcoming two major hurdles when shopping for food: access and affordability, the groups announced Aug. 15.