Cigna Bids $67 Billion to Stay in the Race

Cigna Bids $67 Billion to Stay in the Race

by | Mar 9, 2018 4:17 pm | Managed Care, Physician Medical Groups, Private Equity

Cigna (NYSE: CI) is buying Express Scripts Holdings (NYSE: ESRX) for $67 billion, including debt. Some company was going to buy it, we just weren’t sure who. The deal follows the announcement of the $77 billion CVS Health/Aetna (NYSE: CVS/AET) deal and the $4.9 billion Optum/DaVita Medical Group (NYSE: UNH/DVA) hook-up in December 2017. That’s when the word “disruption” became the top-ranked meme in U.S. healthcare. We’ll grant that CVS’s move into managed care signals a change in business-as-usual. But Optum’s deal for DaVita’s medical group didn’t break new ground. Optum has long been known as a voracious acquirer of physician... Read More »
Diplomat Adds Pharmacy Benefits Management to Its Roster

Diplomat Adds Pharmacy Benefits Management to Its Roster

by | Nov 9, 2017 8:55 pm | Other Services

Pharmacy benefit management (PBM) deals have picked up slightly in 2017. With less than two months left in the year, six of these deals have been announced, up from 2016’s total of three deals. The most recent announcement is Diplomat Pharmacy Inc.’s (NYSE: DPLO) acquisition of National Pharmaceutical Services for $47 million. Diplomat, a specialty pharmaceutical company, has been active acquiring other specialty pharmacy groups over the past two years. The NPS deal marks its entry into the PBM space. Pharmaceutical Technologies, Inc., dba National Pharmaceutical Services, is a full-service pharmacy benefit manager that provides proprietary claims-processing system and offers mail-order... Read More »