A person walks past a Walgreens truck, owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, in Manhattan, New York City, on November 26, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Walgreens It said Thursday it will begin working directly with drugmakers to bring cell and gene therapies to American patients as part of a broader expansion of specialty pharmacy services.
The company said it will launch a new business unit dedicated to the specialty pharmacy sector, which will include specialty pharmacy company AllianceRx. The unit will fall under its core retail pharmacy division in the United States. Meanwhile, Shields Health Solutions, a subsidiary that supports the health system-owned specialty pharmacies, will remain within Walgreens' U.S. healthcare division.
Specialty pharmacies have become an important player in the US health system, especially with the spread of chronic diseases.
Specialized pharmacies provide medicines that require extreme care in handling, storing and distributing them. Treatments are often reserved for patients with chronic, rare or complex conditions such as cancer, Crohn's disease and HIV. Specialty pharmacies also offer counseling or financial assistance designed to support patients taking these expensive treatments.
Among the company's new investments to “transform” specialty pharmacy services, it will open a newly licensed facility in Pittsburgh dedicated to cell and gene therapy services. The 18,000-square-foot center will help drugmakers and health care providers navigate the complex supply chain for those treatments and manage patient needs, among other issues.
Andrew Brooks | Image source | Getty Images
Walgreens' decision to launch its cell and gene therapy services comes after an increase in approvals of these drugs in the United States in the European Union over the past year. These are high-cost, one-time treatments that target a patient's genetic source or cell to treat or significantly alter the course of a disease. Some health experts expect cell and gene therapies to replace traditional lifelong treatments that people use to manage chronic diseases.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved seven cell and gene therapies last year, including the first gene therapies to treat sickle cell disease. This market is expected to grow: the US Food and Drug Administration has predicted that it will review and approve 10 to 20 cell and gene therapies each year by 2025.
Walgreens said the newly launched business unit is the largest independent provider of specialty pharmacy services, with revenues of approximately $24 billion from the segment. Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy is not partnered with the pharmacy benefits manager, the company noted.
This gives the company “the flexibility to contract dynamically with any payer,” Rick Gates, Walgreens' chief pharmacy officer, said in the statement. “We can partner directly with drug manufacturers to facilitate bringing products to market, including limited distribution medications, and coordinate closely with providers to ensure patients experience a smooth start to treatment.”
Under the new unit, patients of AllianceRx and the company's nearly 300 community pharmacies will now have access to resources that “will build upon the expert care they already receive from their specialty pharmacist,” Walgreens said in the release. This includes doctors with expertise in major diseases, dietitians and nurses.
Community specialty pharmacies are located near medical office buildings and health systems, and deliver specialty medications “faster than the industry average” along with services such as injection training and side-effect management, the company said.
Walgreens said it has more than 1,500 specialty pharmacists, 5,000 patient advocacy support team members and an unspecified number of specialty pharmacy teams.
The company also offers more than 1,300 specialty medicines, including 240 “limited distribution” medicines that only a few specialty pharmacies have access to.
