A person drives past a Walgreens truck, owned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance, in Manhattan, New York City on November 26, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Wal vegetables said Thursday it will 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 focused on its specialty pharmacy segment, which will also include specialty pharmacy subsidiary AllianceRx. The unit will fall under the core US retail pharmacy division. Meanwhile, Shields Health Solutions, a subsidiary that supports specialty pharmacies owned by the health care system, will remain under Walgreens' U.S. health care division.
Specialty pharmacies have become a major player in the U.S. healthcare system, especially as chronic diseases become more common.
Specialty pharmacies offer medications that require extreme care in handling, storing and distributing. The treatments are often intended for patients with chronic, rare or complex conditions such as cancer, Crohn's disease and HIV. Specialist pharmacies also offer advice or financial assistance to support patients undergoing these expensive treatments.
Among the company's new investments to “transform” its specialty pharmacy services, it will open a new licensed facility in Pittsburgh dedicated to cell and gene therapy services. The 18,000-square-foot center will, among other things, help drug manufacturers and healthcare providers navigate the complex supply chain for those treatments and manage patient needs.
Andrew Brookes | Image source | Getty Images
Walgreens' decision to launch cell and gene therapy services comes after a sharp increase in approvals of these drugs in the US and European Union over the past year. They are one-time, expensive treatments that target a patient's genetic source or cell to cure or significantly change the course of a disease. Some health experts expect cell and gene therapies to replace the traditional lifelong treatments people use to manage chronic diseases.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved seven cell and gene therapies last year, including the first gene therapies to treat sickle cell disease. That market is only expected to grow: the FDA has predicted that it will review and approve between 10 and 20 cell and gene therapies annually by 2025.
Walgreens said its newly launched business unit is the largest independent provider of specialty pharmacy services, with approximately $24 billion in revenue from the segment. Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy does not work with a pharmacy benefits manager, the company noted.
That gives the company “the flexibility to dynamically contract with any payer,” Walgreens Chief Pharmacy Officer Rick Gates said in the release. “We can work directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring products to market, including medications with limited distribution, and work closely with suppliers 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 on the expert care they already receive from their specialty pharmacist,” Walgreens said in the release. This includes doctors with important disease expertise, nutritionists and nurses.
The company said it is its community-based specialty pharmacies are located near medical office buildings and healthcare systems and provide specialty medications “faster than the industry average,” along with services such as injection training and side effect management.
Walgreens said yes more than 1,500 specialty pharmacists, 5,000 patient advocacy support team members and an unspecified number of dedicated specialty pharmacy teams.
The company also offers more than 1,300 specialty medications, including 240 limited distribution medications that few specialty pharmacies have access to.