Walgreens Boots Alliance will name will name former Express Scripts chief executive Tim Wentworth as the drugstore giant’s new chief executive officer, the pharmacy chain confirmed Tuesday night.
Wentworth, who led Express Scripts through its acquisition by Cigna in 2018, is well known in the healthcare industry, which is what Walgreens had hoped to hire in replacing Rosalind Brewer as the drugstore giant’s top executive.
Brewer resigned last month and Walgreens board said it wanted to replace her with an executive with healthcare experience.
Wentworth has more than 40 years of healthcare industry experience, most recently serving as chief executive of Evernorth, Cigna’s $100 billion health services organization, which includes the pharmacy benefit management company Express Scripts.
Wentworth was CEO of Express Scripts, when the PBM sold to Cigna for more than $50 billion in 2018.
The deal was done at a time when insurers like Cigna are closing ranks around a model that brings the PBM closer to the health plan in hopes of creating a savvier buyer of prescription medicines while seeking more transparency. UnitedHealth Group already owns OptumRx, a fast-growing PBM and CVS Health, which owns the Caremark PBM, is nearing completion of its acquisition of Aetna, the nation’s third largest health insurer.
Walgreens, however, hasn’t to date been interested in closer ties with a health insurance company or PBM, which could change under Wentworth.
PBMs like Express Scripts are considered middlemen between drug makers and consumers when it comes to purchasing drugs and providing prescription coverage. The PBM’s role is in part to leverage its negotiating clout to get the best drug prices on behalf of its diverse base of customers that include large employers as well as Medicare and Medicaid.
Regardless of whether Walgreens forms closer ties with a health plan or PBM, Wentworth has his work cut out for him.
Walgreens’ share price has been sliding to around a 14-year low as investors wait impatiently for results of the drugstore giant’s transformation into a major provider of healthcare services.
In Walgreens’ most recent quarter, profits tumbled to $118 million—less than half of what they were a year ago—due to, Brewer said, “significantly lower demand for Covid-related services.” Walgreens releases its next quarterly earnings on Thursday.
Under Brewer, Walgreens has spent billions of dollars, including gaining a majority stake in doctor-staffed clinic developer VillageMD, which is rolling out hundreds of primary care centers attached to Walgreens drugstores. Wentworth’s former company, Evernorth, has also invested substantially in VillageMD.
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