In The Deal magazine this week, we take a look at
deal activity among the big drugstore chains, which have been vying to build national retail networks and add related businesses as the healthcare system evolves.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG) and CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE:CVS) each has its own approach. The biggest difference: CVS made a $26 billion bet on the pharmacy benefit management business by buying Caremark Rx Inc. in 2007.
Now comes a reminder that there's another powerful player out there with its own take on how to push pills. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is
expanding a pilot program for employees of companies such as Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), whereby they get low prices by going straight to Wal-Mart and bypassing PBMs. The Wall Street Journal has the details.
It's an anti-PBM approach, and judging from the comments from a spokeswoman for Express Scripts Inc., (NASDAQ:ESRX) a threatening one. She complains that Wal-Mart's motivation is to drive traffic to its stores.
CVS, of course, has both a PBM and 7,000 stores, far more than the 2,500-plus deployed by Wal-Mart, which is found not on every corner and strip mall but only in supercenters. Meanwhile Walgreen (6,600 stores) is also building healthcare clinics for big employers such as Toyota Motor Corp.
All this with major regulatory changes in healthcare a looming likelihood. This is a story that will be worth following. -
Kenneth Klee
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