Express Scripts Terminates Ties With Specialty Pharmacy
The Wall Street Journal describes this development as the most recent sign of tension within this slice of the marketplace. Meanwhile, Valeant continues to be under the microscope, and Theranos and Safeway dissolve their partnership.
The Wall Street Journal:
Express Scripts Cutting Off Pharmacy That Sold Drugs From Horizon Pharma
Express Scripts Holding Co. said it was cutting off a pharmacy that sold medications made by Horizon Pharma PLC and suing the drug maker, in the latest sign of tension over ties between pharmaceutical manufacturers and companies that dispense their medicines. (Wilde Mathews, 11/10)
The New York Times:
Express Scripts Cuts Ties To New York Specialty Pharmacy
The nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager has stopped doing business with a specialty pharmacy used by the drug maker Horizon Pharma, in a sign of a further crackdown on the use mail-order dispensaries to help lift sales of expensive drugs. The benefit manager, Express Scripts, sent an immediate termination letter to Linden Care, a specialty pharmacy in Woodbury, N.Y., on Monday. Linden Care in turn sued Express Scripts in Federal District Court in Albany on Tuesday, asking the court to reverse the termination. (Pollack, 11/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Biggest Valeant Holder Plumbed Philidor Ties
As shares in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. plunged in recent weeks, representatives from its largest shareholder went to great lengths to check up on its multibillion-dollar investment, including paying hundreds of dollars for information and offering thousands more to not talk with anyone else. Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb Inc., manager of Sequoia Fund Inc., said it reached out to former employees of the Philidor Rx Services LLC mail-order pharmacy that almost exclusively dispensed Valeant drugs and sought to speak with them about the pharmacy’s work. (Rockoff and Rothfeld, 11/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Safeway, Theranos Split After $350 Million Deal Fizzles
Safeway Inc. spent about $350 million to build clinics in more than 800 of its supermarkets to offer blood tests by startup Theranos Inc. But the tests never began, the clinics are now used largely for flu shots and travel-related vaccines, and the two companies have been negotiating to officially dissolve their partnership, according to people familiar with the matter. Current and former Safeway executives said Theranos missed deadlines for the blood-testing rollout. They also said several Safeway executives questioned the accuracy of results Theranos gave to Safeway employees tested at a clinic in the supermarket chain’s headquarters in Pleasanton, Calif. (Carreyrou, 11/10)
