Article

UnitedHealth to Buy Catamaran, Boost PBM Business

With a combined 1 billion scripts annually, UnitedHealth will be about the same size as current industry number 2, CVS Health Corp.

Health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc agreed to buy Catamaran Corp in a deal worth about $12.8 billion to boost its pharmacy benefit business as it competes with bigger rivals such as Express Scripts Holdings Co.

Pharmacy benefit managers administer drug benefits for employers and health plans and run large mail order pharmacies, helping them get better prices from drugmakers.

As employers look to cut prescription costs on expensive drugs, the deal with Catamaran will give UnitedHealth's pharmacy benefits unit, OptumRx, the scale to negotiate favorable prices from pharmacy companies.

Link to the Reuters news:

http://reut.rs/1xttI4e

Related Videos
Dr Emma Achola-Kothani
Marla Black Morgan, MD, Phoebe Neurology Associates
Christine Funke, MD
5 experts are featured in this series
5 experts are featured in this series
Toby Maher, MD, PhD, professor of clinical medicine, Keck School of Medicine at USC
Nini Wu, MD, Navista
Fred Locke, MD, Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Related Content
AJMC Managed Markets Network Logo
CH LogoCenter for Biosimilars Logo