Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to spend $1.37 billion to amass the remaining 30% of specialty pharmacy firm Shields Well being Options that it did not already personal.
In September 2021, Walgreens spent $970 million to grow to be a majority stakeholder in Shields, and the corporate will purchase the remaining stake from different fairness holders. The transaction is anticipated to shut by the tip of 2022, the businesses stated Tuesday.
Buying Shields, which works with 80 well being programs nationwide and represents greater than 1 million sufferers with advanced situations, gives Walgreens a chance to additional put money into the fast-growing specialty pharmacy market, a Walgreens spokesperson stated in an announcement.
Shields operates on an built-in mannequin, working with insurers and hospital-owned pharmacies to make sure sufferers have entry to specialty drugs.
The corporate will proceed to function as a definite enterprise inside Walgreens, led by co-founder and present president John Lucey, who will grow to be Shields’ CEO. Lee Cooper, who’s at present Shields’ CEO, will lead Walgreens’ pharmacy section, beginning Oct. 1.
The transaction is the newest step by Walgreens to diversify its well being section companies in pharmacy, major care, post-acute care and expertise. Over the previous 12 months, Walgreens has spent greater than $5.5 billion in offers to grow to be majority proprietor of the primary-care startup VillageMD, in addition to the house well being profit administration agency CareCentrix.
Between McKesson planning to amass Rx Financial savings Options and the Federal Commerce Fee launching an investigation into main pharmacy profit administration corporations, a number of exercise has occurred in the prescribed drugs house, stated Marissa Moore, a well being tech investor at OMERS Ventures.
With specialty pharmacy remedy particularly turning into a driver of rising healthcare prices, Moore stated it’s no shock that corporations are investing in managing and controlling these bills.
Fairly than focusing solely on drug pricing, corporations are starting to mix information analytics, affected person training and utilization administration methods as a approach to save prices, she stated.
“That built-in strategy is the guts of Shields’ mannequin and a giant motive why Walgreens went with Shields,” Moore stated.
For its fiscal third quarter that ended Might 31, Walgreens reported $32.6 billion in income—down 4.2% year-over-year. Well being and wellness gross sales elevated 7.9%, partially pushed by at-home COVID-19 exams and cough, chilly and flu merchandise.