Cigna’s Evernorth has acquired CarepathRx just two years after making a significant investment in the company, a spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Healthcare.
In June 2023, the company formed a strategic partnership with CarepathRx, a pharmacy that dispenses to hospitals and health systems. Alongside the partnership, which aimed to boost access to specialty care, Evernorth took a minority stake in Carepath.
“As part of our work to enhance and expand the ways we support patients living with specialty conditions and the clinicians who treat them, we completed the acquisition of CarepathRx last year,” the spokesperson said. “CarepathRx supports a range of home and ambulatory infusion solutions to hospitals and health systems.”
A completed sale of the company was not announced formally, though it is listed on the Carepath website that it “has joined Evernorth Health Services.”
The news was first reported by Stat. The outlet reported that rumblings about the deal first surfaced last summer after Oregon regulators began a probe into its effects.
Per a report (PDF) from the Oregon Health Authority, officials determined that the acquisition would not have a significant impact on concentration given that CarepathRx has a relatively small market share.
“Although Evernorth’s market share for their pharmacy business is high, the acquisition of CarepathRx does not materially increase Evernorth’s position in the market,” the officials wrote.
Evernorth, as the parent company of one of the “Big Three” pharmacy benefit managers, Express Scripts, as well as a large specialty pharmacy arm in Accredo, is a key player in the pharmacy space. The news also comes as regulators have increased scrutiny of PBMs and insurers more broadly, particularly those that are highly vertically integrated, like the Cigna Group.
Alongside Evernorth, the Cigna Group is also the parent of a large national insurer, Cigna Healthcare.