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☆ Walgreens to help bring cell and gene therapies to patients as it expands specialty pharmacy services
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Walgreens on Thursday said it will start to work directly with drugmakers to bring cell and gene therapies to U.S. patients as part of a broader expansion of its specialty pharmacy services. The company said it is launching a new business unit dedicated to its specialty pharmacy segment, which will include specialty pharmacy subsidiary AllianceRx. Meanwhile, Shields Health Solutions, a subsidiary that supports health system-owned specialty pharmacies, will remain under Walgreens's U.S. health-care division. Specialty pharmacies provide medications that require extreme care in handling, storage and distribution. Among the company's new investments to "transform" its specialty pharmacy services, it will open a newly licensed facility in Pittsburgh dedicated to services for cell and gene therapies.

Persons: drugmakers Organizations: Walgreens, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Shields Health Solutions, Walgreens's Locations: Manhattan , New York City, U.S, Pittsburgh

☆ Walgreens' biggest healthcare bet is floundering as it shutters 160 primary-care clinics
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's exiting 160 VillageMD primary-care clinics, up from the previously planned 60. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Walgreens' healthcare business reported an operating loss of $1.7 billion in 2023, and VillageMD makes up the bulk of that business. The move to close so many clinics has some analysts questioning whether Walgreens plans to ditch its healthcare bets altogether. A Walgreens spokesperson said VillageMD has exited or plans to exit Florida, Indiana, Chicago, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Nevada.

Persons: VillageMD, —, Tim Wentworth, Roz Brewer, Mary Langowski, John Driscoll, they've, Jack Slevin, Jefferies, Allen Lutz, Slevin, Cigna Organizations: Walgreens, Service, Express, Health, Summit Health, WBA, BofA Securities, Shields Health Solutions, Healthcare Locations: VillageMD, Chicago, Florida , Indiana, Chicago , Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Nevada

☆ Walgreens is closing all VillageMD primary-care clinics in Florida as the pharmacy giant slashes costs
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewWalgreens-backed primary care company VillageMD is closing all its medical clinics in Florida, one of its largest markets. VillageMD confirmed the closures in an email to Business Insider on Wednesday. The closures are part of Walgreens' strategy to slash spending by $1 billion or more as the pharmacy giant's healthcare business struggles with losses. All of the VillageMD clinics in Florida are attached to Walgreens stores, according to Jefferies' January report. At the time of the acquisition, Walgreens had planned to open 1,000 VillageMD clinics located adjacent to its pharmacies by 2027.

Persons: —, VillageMD, Jefferies, Tim Wentworth, Brian Tanquilut, Jack Slevin, Tanquilut, Wentworth, Roz Brewer, John Driscoll, Mary Langowski, Driscoll Organizations: Service, Business, Walgreens, Jefferies, CVS Health, Summit, Solera, Shields Health Solutions, Pearl Health Locations: Florida, Texas, Arizona, VillageMD, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Shields

☆ Walgreens just made another big bet on healthcare, weeks after its CEO exited. A top exec shares how the company plans to partner with doctors.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In an interview with Insider, the head of Walgreens Health shared his vision for the business. It spent $5.2 billion to buy a majority stake in the primary-care company VillageMD and invested $3.5 billion to help the clinic chain acquire an urgent-care company. The company reported in June an operating loss of $1.4 billion in its Walgreens Health business in the first nine months of its fiscal year. Walgreens pharmacists could work with VillageMD doctors to better care for patients with chronic health conditions, he said. Integrating Walgreens' healthcare businessesWalgreens' strategy for how it would tie its growing number of individual healthcare businesses together hasn't been clear, but Driscoll gave some clues.

Persons: Rosalind Brewer, Brewer, James Kehoe, John Driscoll, Walgreens, Driscoll, Pearl Organizations: Walgreens, Walgreens Health, Shields Health Solutions, Pearl Health, CVS, Health, Amazon, Walmart Locations: Shields, Pearl

☆ Beware these debt-heavy stocks in your portfolio as borrowing costs rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

That leaves companies with high debt, accustomed to low financing costs, facing refinancing risks, Evercore ISI analyst Julian Emanuel said. Here are some of the names Evercore ISI said could be hurt by a material change in borrowing and business conditions. Carvana's short-term debt is 20.4% of its total debt and its net debt to equity is 503.6%. Meanwhile, Duke Energy 's short-term debt is 10.9% of its total debt and its net debt to equity is 107.3%, according to Evercore ISI. Lastly, Walgreens Boots Alliance 's short-term debt is 17.1% of its total debt and its net debt to equity is 115.2%.

☆ Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Q1 earnings 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday reported fiscal first quarter earnings beat Wall Street's estimates Thursday after an early flu season boosted demand for cough and cold medicine. The company said it also raised its full-year revenue outlook due in part to its U.S. health care segment's just-sealed acquisition of Summit Health. The company is in the process of acquiring CareCentrix, which coordinates home care for patients after they're discharged from the hospital, and Shields Health Solutions, a specialty pharmacy company. The acquisition led Walgreens to increase its full year sales guidance to $133.5 billion to $137.5 billion. The company is also maintaining its full-year earnings per share guidance of $4.45 to $4.65, compared to estimates of $4.50.

☆ Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer wants to make getting healthcare as easy as going to your neighborhood pharmacy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Brewer, 60, is chasing a new first of sorts in her role at Walgreens: turning the $33 billion pharmacy chain into a destination healthcare company. After stepping into power at America's second-largest pharmacy during the deadliest disease event in US history, Brewer has been pursuing a wide-ranging strategy to remake the company. The company's larger rival, CVS Health, is following a similar strategy of making healthcare a bigger part of its business. "Dispensing of pharmaceuticals is not going to be our long-term growth avenue," Brewer said at a 2022 healthcare-industry conference, according to FierceHealthcare. But healthcare is complex and even the company's long-standing pharmacy business comes with challenges.

☆ Walgreens beats sales expectations, as it expands its health-care business
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Melissa Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday exceeded fiscal fourth quarter sales and earnings expectations, as the drugstore chain turns itself into a more health-care focused company. At the end of the quarter, Walgreens had a total of 334 doctor offices with VillageMD. Covid vaccines, which boosted Walgreens' sales and foot traffic, have fallen off significantly. It had fourth quarter sales of $5.1 billion, a drop of 6.6% from the year-ago period. Its U.S. digital sales growth grew 14% in the fourth quarter, on top of an 82% increase in the year-ago period.

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