News Briefs: Centene Will Sell Off Two PBM Assets

As part of its PBM restructuring efforts, Centene Corp. will sell two pharmacy benefits subsidiaries, Magellan Rx and PANTHERx, for approximately $2.8 billion in separate deals. Magellan Rx will be sold to Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliate-owned PBM Prime Therapeutics for $1.35 billion, while specialty pharmacy PANTHERx will be sold to a group of private equity firms that includes The Vistria Group, General Atlantic and Nautic Partners for $1.45 billion. Both prices are preliminary and the deals must undergo antitrust review. The PANTHERx sale “is expected to close in the next two to four months,” according to a Centene press release, while Magellan Rx “is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022.” Centene executives have sought to sell the firm’s PBM assets for some time; new CEO Sarah London said in February that the firm planned to “reduce our three PBM platforms down to one and to focus…[on] clinical member and provider engagement.” After the deals, Centene will retain PBM Envolve Health, presumably to fulfill those functions. Meanwhile, Centene has spent millions to settle claims by state Medicaid programs that it overcharged them for prescription drugs.

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