St. Louis firm gets largest specialty-drug business

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- A pharmacy benefits company in suburban St. Louis plans to buy the nation's largest specialty-pharmaceutical business early next year.

Express Scripts Inc. of Maryland Heights said Monday it will pay $335 million to buy CuraScript, based in Orlando, Fla.

Specialty pharmaceuticals include biotech or protein drugs that are synthesized in plant or animal cells, steroids and high-powered antibiotics. The drugs commonly are delivered by infusion or injection.

Specialty drugs are used to treat cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, AIDS, hemophilia, Hepatitis B, severe psoriasis and asthma.

CuraScript consists of CuraScript Pharmacy Inc. and CuraScript PBM Services Inc. The pharmacy supplies drugs in almost every class of specialty pharmaceuticals.

The acquisition is significant because specialty pharmaceuticals are an expensive and growing segment of medical costs, and is drawing increasing attention from insurance companies and employers.

Express Scripts, a pharmacy-benefits manager, distributes some high-cost specialty drugs from its headquarters campus in Maryland Heights and fulfills other client orders from distributors and pharmacies in its networks. About $1 billion of its $12.3 billion in annual revenues is tied to specialty drugs.

Barrett Toan, Express Scripts chairman and chief executive, said that CuraScript was attractive because it "is a group that really does care about the patient. It shows in everything they do."

CuraScript tracks patients' lab reports, monitors health outcomes and keeps in touch with the patient and doctor, Toan said. It operates a 24-hour hot line to answer patients' questions and coordinate back-up care in the event of a patient emergency.