Express Scripts plans to buy WellPoint's in-house pharmacy-benefit management business
13 04 09 - 20:16
Express Scripts to Purchase WellPoint Unit
By Stephen Grocer - The Wall Street Journal
By Stephen Grocer
Express Scripts plans to buy WellPoint’s in-house pharmacy-benefit management business for $4.68 billion, in a deal that would give the drug-benefits company more heft to compete against bigger rivals.
The agreement includes a 10-year contract for Express Scripts, the country’s third-largest drug benefits company, to provide pharmacy-benefit management services to WellPoint, the biggest health insurer with 35 million members, the companies said. The decade-long commitment is a key factor in the value of the deal since WellPoint’s PBM currently manages the drug benefits of the majority of its members, plus those of a number of smaller health plans. Express Scripts is buying the business with a mixture of cash and up to $1.4 billion in stock.