Content about PBM

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — We didn’t include this story in this week’s edition of the Fix because we thought SXC and Catalyst picked a really cool name (it’s OK), or even because we think CEO Mark Thierer is one of the brightest executives in the business (he is). It’s because Catamaran is a company to watch.

(THE NEWS: SXC Health Solutions changes name to Catamaran. For the full story, click here)

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark outlined succession plans for its pharmacy benefit management business as EVP and COO Jon Roberts will assume the role of president of the PBM business, effective Sept. 1.

LISLE, Ill. — Pharmacy benefit manager SXC Health Solutions is buying PBM service company HealthTrans for $250 million, SXC said Thursday.

Based in Colorado with additional offices in Illinois, Florida and Georgia, HealthTrans provides PBM and healthcare information technology services to about 260 clients, and its PBM business includes a suite of PBM offerings, such as nationwide retail network, formulary and rebate management, Medicare Part D services and mail order.

At press time, the industry was weighing the potential merger of pharmacy benefit manager rivals Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions, but executives at CVS Caremark remain more confident than ever that its PBM business is ideally positioned to “effectively compete,” regardless of what federal trade regulators decide for ESI-Medco. And there’s good reason why.


WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark posted second-quarter results that were at the high end of its guidance and narrowed its 2011 outlook on continued confidence. But it was the pharmacy benefit management business — and the potential merger of PBM rivals Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions — that was top of mind for many industry observers, and was a topic that CVS Caremark president and CEO Larry Merlo hit head-on at the start of Thursday morning’s conference call.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — With all the talk among the investment community and press about what CVS Caremark should do with its PBM business, it really comes as little surprise that president and CEO Larry Merlo hit the topic head on during Thursday's first-quarter conference call — insisting that there are no plans to split the company.

(THE NEWS: CVS off to ‘good start,’ Merlo says; company committed to PBM biz. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The news that Helena Foulkes will lead PBM product innovation and marketing at CVS Caremark is important, as Foulkes, the ExtraCare architect, is widely regarded as one of the most visionary marketers in modern drug store retailing.

(THE NEWS: Foulkes to lead PBM product innovation, marketing at CVS Caremark. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT A bill that would prohibit federal PBM contracts with companies that operate both a PBM and retail pharmacies not only has sparked debate but, if passed, could be a blow to the vertically integrated pharmacy-PBM model.

(THE NEWS: Bill would prohibit federal PBM contracts with companies operating PBMs, retail pharmacies. For the full story, click here)

A couple of issues back I wrote a column about a question a guy asked me at conference earlier this fall: “So, who’s bigger—CVS or Walgreens?” Ironically, it was the week each company opened its 7,000th store. The point: If you’re measuring these companies based solely on who operates the most stores, if that’s the way you’re keeping score, you’re watching the wrong game.

I still believe that.