McKesson grabs up RxCrossroads, US hub services provider to pharma

McKesson has picked up the RxCrossroads business of CVS Health, which that company acquired when it purchased Omnicare in 2015. RxCrossroads provides patient support (hub) services, specialty pharmacy support and third-party logistics (3PL) services to pharma manufacturers, for specialty pharmaceuticals in particular. McKesson will add the unit to the McKesson Specialty Health, which provides some of the same services for oncology, rheumatology and other specialties, as well as a group purchasing organization (Onmark GPO) for community practices.

“This investment will strengthen our existing best-in-class solutions, including hub services and patient assistance programs, while establishing new logistics services to plasma manufacturers, which allows us to serve biopharma companies of all sizes and throughout the product life cycle,” said John Hammergren, McKesson chairman, in a statement. Shawn Seamans, SVP Manufacturer Solutions at McKesson Specialty Health, while noting that the transaction will not close until next year, expects that RxCrossroads’ brand will be retained. The Manufacturer Solutions unit includes 3PL services, specialty pharmacy (through the acquisition of Biologics in 2016), and McKesson Patient Relationship Solutions, which manages direct patient interactions, and a marketing services organization. The plasma component of RxCrossroads will also complement the acquisition of BDI Pharma, which closed in August.

RxCrossroads was something of an odd fit with CVS Health, in that CVS has a leading specialty pharmacy business (CVS Specialty) and specialty infusion service (Coram), whose offerings have some overlap with RxCrossroads. Even so, CVS had been investing in the RxCrossroads business, which has expanded after the CVS acquisition.

The patient-support business has seen substantial growth in recent years, tracking the growth of specialty pharmaceuticals and those for rare diseases. Each of the Big Three wholesalers—as well as others—has a specialty business, offering services to support or establish a patient-support function funded by manufacturers. Pharmaceutical Commerce’s latest annual hub services report was published in March.