GLG News by Medicare Experts

McKesson Corp (MCK) settled its pending class action suit for $351 million and set aside a further $143 million reserve for certain future claims. The settlement removes a source of uncertainty for McKesson, but also signals the beginning of the end for the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) benchmark. Average...

CVS Caremark (CVS) launched its new Health Savings Pass, which allows customers to buy 90 day supplies of over 400 generics for $9.99 (after paying an enrollment fee of $10). The new program sounds like a logical pre-emptive strike against anticipated share losses. Translation: an old-fashioned, race-to-the-bottom...

A just-published article in Drug Benefit News provides new details about the Wal-Mart’s (WMT) $0 generic co-pay program with Caterpillar (CAT). Anyone involved in the pharmacy channel – pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), insurers, payers, drug wholesalers – should be paying attention to the...

Walgreens (WAG) announced the acquisition of McKesson’s (MCK) specialty pharmacy business in a win-win transaction for both companies. The deal makes sense for both parties as long you understand that specialty distributors sell products to physicians, providers and pharmacies, while specialty pharmacies...

The New York Times ran a story on the impact of the economy on prescriptions. The article provided many compelling personal stories to illustrate data from IMS Health showing a decline in the total number of prescriptions dispensed in the United States. However, I have some concerns about the ability...

The Columbus Dispatch published a six-part expose/overview about the diversion and sale of controlled substances. Mike Pramik, the reporter who wrote all six parts, has pulled together a must-read series. Since the Dispatch is also Cardinal Health’s (CAH) hometown paper, there are some good insights...

Last week, Cardinal Health (CAH) announced agreements with the Drug Enforcement Adminstration (DEA) regarding its license suspensions for controlled substances. These suspensions had a negative impact on the company's sales and market position. The company even publicly apologized for its actions during...

Cardinal Health (CAH) is rapidly growing its Chinese drug distribution business, while expanding manufacturing in India (but not China). This strategy is especially interesting given Cardinal’s planned separation of its supply chain division from clinical & medical products. The era of global wholesalers...

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) announced an innovative new program with Caterpillar (CAT) that provides $0 co-pays on 2,500 generic drugs for 70,000 beneficiaries (employees, retirees, spouses, dependents). As I see it, the deal does not represent a direct frontal assault on PBMs such as Express Scripts (ESRX)...

Not surprisingly, everything tried thus far to slow the relentless progression of Alzheimer's disease has failed.  But if strong efficacy signals from two pilot studies and a recently completed Phase II trial of human immunoglobulin (IVIg) are confirmed in a Phase III trial scheduled to start next...