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Pharmacy Software Companies Merge

by | Oct 11, 2016 3:15 pm | eHealth, Private Equity

Specialty pharmacies have attracted a lot of interest from private equity firms in 2016. Now it’s specialty pharmacy services companies that are beginning to see consolidation. In October, Rx30, a portfolio company of GTCR since June 2015, merged with another pharmacy software supplier, privately held Computer Rx. Rx30 develops and supplies pharmacy management software solutions to the independent, hospital, long-term care and specialty pharmacy markets. Computer Rx has a similar focus, which includes community pharmacies. Rx30’s CEO Steve Wubker will lead the combined business. Roger Warkentine, founder of Computer Rx, will continue as an advisor to the combined business, and... Read More »

Recent Health Care Deals, week ending 10.07.2016

by | Oct 7, 2016 7:08 pm | Healthcare Market Updates

AcquirerTargetPrice ICU Medical Inc. Pfizer's global infusion therapy business$1 billion Allergan plcWorldwide rights to MEDI2070$250 million Wolters Kluwer, NVEmmi Solutions$170 million WellCare Health Plans Inc. Care1st Health Plan Arizona Inc. $157.5 million Accord Healthcare LimitedActavis Generics assets$760.4... Read More »

REIT-backed Hospital Deals Accelerate

by | Oct 7, 2016 6:52 pm | Hospitals, Private Equity

Now that hospitals and health systems have realized most of the benefits they expected from the Affordable Care Act, the mergers and acquisitions in the hospital sector have been supplanted by partnerships, clinical collaborations, joint ventures, strategic alliances and affiliations. But there is one group of acquirers still on the prowl: real estate investment trusts (REITs). Their interest and investment in this sector has grown since 2014, when only three REIT-sponsored deals were announced.  Those deals targeted one hospital each, with a total of 94 beds. Combined spending was $1.27 billion. The action picked up in 2015, with six REIT-backed deals announced. The largest was made by... Read More »

WellCare Branches into Arizona with Care1st Buy

by | Oct 6, 2016 3:54 pm | Managed Care

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) is moving into the Arizona Medicare and Medicaid markets. Care1st Health Plan, an affiliate of Blue Shield of California, agreed to sell its subsidiaries Care1st Health Plan Arizona, Inc. and ONECare by Care1st Health Plan of Arizona, Inc. (together, Care1st Arizona), managed care companies that provide Medicaid and Medicare benefits to approximately 114,ooo beneficiaries in Maricopa and Pima counties, Arizona’s largest geographic service areas. The $157.5 million purchase price is inclusive of statutory capital and subject to certain adjustments, and will be funded with available cash on hand. WellCare provides government-sponsored managed... Read More »

AstraZeneca Sheds Assets After its Trial Failure

by | Oct 5, 2016 8:28 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) has been on the receiving end of three different purchases in the first five days of October, selling licenses to three of its non-core assets for a combined upfront payment of $450 million. Its selling spree occurred in tandem with the announced trial failure of its blood thinner Brilinta (ticagrelor), which failed to show any benefit over the standard medication for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD). According to Reuters, the trial failure forced the company to abandon a $3.5 billion-a-year sales target for the drug by 2023. On October 3rd, AstraZeneca’s biologics arm, MedImmune, agreed to license the worldwide rights to Allergan plc (NYSE:... Read More »

Pfizer Sells Hospira’s Infusion Therapy Business

by | Oct 4, 2016 3:22 pm | Pharmaceuticals

Way back in February 2015, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) agreed to pay $17 billion to acquire Hospira, Inc., a global provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies. In early October 2016, Pfizer agreed to sell Hospira’s infusion therapy business to ICU Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: ICUI) for $1 billion in cash and stock. The company develops, manufactures and sells medical devices used in infusion therapy, oncology and critical care applications. Pfizer will receive approximately $400 million in newly issued shares of ICU Medical common stock and $600 million in cash from ICU, for a total purchase price of approximately $1 billion. Upon completion, Pfizer will own approximately 16.6% of... Read More »

Community Health Sells 4 Rural Hospitals

by | Sep 30, 2016 6:50 pm | Hospitals

Financially troubled Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) announced the sale of four rural hospitals on September 28, as it tries to pare down its $15 billion in debt. And more announcements are in the works. Curae Health, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting rural healthcare services, agreed to take on the four facilities, three of which are in Mississippi and one in Florida.  They are Merit Health Gilmore Memorial (95 beds), Merit Health Batesville (112 beds), Merit Health Northwest Mississippi (181 beds) and Highlands Regional Medical Center (126 beds). In November 2014, Curae Health emerged as the owner of three rural Alabama hospitals being sold by LifePoint... Read More »

Hospital Deals Lag 2015’s Total

by | Sep 29, 2016 8:25 am | Hospitals, Private Equity

Hospital transactions have trickled in during the first three quarters of 2016. To date, 68 mergers or acquisitions have been announced (64 of them for U.S. hospital or health systems), although there have been many more partnerships, strategic alliances and joint ventures in the same period. For our database, those deals don’t count. Last year at this time, 79 deals were recorded, and 2015 ended with a total of 102 transactions (96 of them U.S.-based targets). Given the slowing pace of M&A activity we’ve witnessed since the second quarter, we don’t expect a sudden burst of transactions in the fourth quarter that would reach last year’s level. Spending on the... Read More »

Digital Health Deals on Track to Pass 2015

by | Sep 28, 2016 6:32 pm | eHealth

So far in 2016, eHealth is only four deals away from surpassing 2015’s total of 126, and nearly $20 billion has been spent (out of 20 disclosed prices). Nine deals have been announced in September, most of which exemplify how eHealth touches many areas of healthcare, beyond the expected revenue cycle management (RCM), electronic health records (EHR) etc. On September 15, 2016, privately-held RightEye LLC, a provider of eye-tracking technology that captures and scores eye movements and helps to predict, evaluate and improve outcomes of its users, purchased rights to two eye movement tests from the University of California, San Diego, and Virginia Commonwealth University. The GeoPref Autism... Read More »