Walgreens creates new specialty pharmacy business 

DEERFIELD, Ill. – AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy will become Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy effective Aug.1, 2024, in a move that Walgreens says will expand care for patients with complex, chronic conditions. 

Walgreens will now have nearly 300 community-based specialty pharmacies nationwide, with more than 1,500 specialty-trained pharmacists, 5,000 patient advocacy support team members and dedicated Specialty360 teams that support all specialty conditions and therapies. 

“With approximately $24 billion in annual enterprise specialty revenue, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy is the largest independent provider that offers the industry's most robust specialty capabilities not vertically aligned with a pharmacy benefit manager,” said Rick Gates, chief pharmacy officer, Walgreens. “We have the flexibility to contract dynamically with any payer. We can partner directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers to facilitate products to market, including limited distribution drugs, and coordinate closely with providers to ensure patients experience a smooth start to treatment.” 

Under the new business, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy will offer the following services at scale: 

• Gene and Cell Services Pharmacy and Innovation Center, a dedicated 18,000-square-foot center in Pittsburgh, with services and capabilities for emerging therapies, including innovative solutions for managing the complexity of the supply chain, logistics and financing, as well as clinical and social needs management to ensure success for patients and partners. 

• Four central specialty pharmacies, each holding several national pharmacy accreditations, where pharmacists and care teams across the country work together to dispense highly complex medications and help patients manage chronic or rare diseases and conditions. These pharmacies hold distinctions in oncology and rare/orphan conditions and offer patients and caregivers clinical services that drive engagement, adherence and outcomes. 

• A growing roster of 240 limited distribution drugs, including 40 narrow networks and 12 exclusive limited distribution drugs. 

In 2023, Walgreens Boots Alliance divested its final shares of Option Care, which it acquired in 2007. At the time, the company said it planned to use the proceeds of approximately $330 million to, among other things, “support strategic initiatives and health care transformation.”