McKesson UK Picks Up Echo

McKesson UK Picks Up Echo

Prescription compliance is the name of the game for pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. Now McKesson Corp.’s (NYSE: MCK) UK subsidiary, McKesson UK, has entered the arena with its recent acquisition of Echo, an online prescription fulfillment business based there. Echo’s medicines management app already has an installed customer base, who can order their repeat prescriptions through the app and have them delivered for free. Think Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) PillPack, which performs a similar service in the United States. Echo is also one of three National Health Service (NHS)-approved repeat prescription apps. It was also part of the 2018 NHS Innovation Accelerator... Read More »

McKesson Buys Irish Drug Distribution Business

McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) got back into acquisition mode last week with its purchase of the pharmaceutical distribution division of UDG Healthcare plc for €408 million (US$463 million) in cash. Under terms of the agreement, McKesson will acquire United Drug Sangers in Northern Ireland and United Drug in the Republic of Ireland, as well as TCP, a leading home healthcare provider in the Republic of Ireland and MASTA, UDG’s travel healthcare business based in the United Kingdom. The deal boosts McKesson’s European drug distribution business, but not as much as its October 2013 deal for 75% of the German distributor Celesio AG, totaling $8.2 billion. In July, Celesio announced its UK... Read More »