Cigna/Express Scripts: The End Of The Standalone PBM Era

The health insurer Cigna is poised to acquire the largest independent PBM in the US. With other consolidation throughout the sector, this signals sweeping changes to the way drug distribution is managed.

Express Scripts Holding Co.– the largest pharmacy benefit manager in the US, which has staked its reputation for lowering drug spending on a message of independence – is poised to be acquired by the health insurer Cigna Corp. for $67bn in cash and stock, including $15bn in Express Scripts debt.

The news will reverberate across the pharmaceutical industry as stakeholders scramble to decipher what this latest consolidation in an ongoing...