Longs Drug Stores sells pharmaceutical mail service facility to WellPoint

Longs Drug Stores Corp. (Walnut Creek, CA) has agreed to sell a pharmaceutical mail service facility owned and operated by RxAmerica (Salt Lake City), in which Longs Drugs has a joint venture interest, to WellPoint Health Networks Inc. (Thousand Oaks, CA) for $1.6 million. The sale of the facility, located in Fort Worth, Texas, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2000.

Longs Drugs will continue to participate in the pharmacy benefits management (PBM) market through its remaining investment in RxAmerica, company president and CEO Steve Roath said in a press release. "At the same time, we're working on enhancing the in-store customer pharmacy experience, and thereby strengthening Longs' overall competitive position," he added.

RxAmerica, a PBM joint venture, provides services to more than 6.4 million members of health plans, private employers, Taft-Hartley organizations and union groups, third party administrators, governmental agencies, and public schools and universities nationwide. It utilizes a network of more than 45,000 pharmacies.

Longs Drug Stores Corp. operates 426 stores in California, Hawaii, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, and Oregon, with average annual sales of over $9.3 million per store.

For more information: Longs Drug Stores Corp., 141 N. Civic Dr., Walnut Creek, CA 94596. Tel: 925-937-1170. Fax: 925-210-6886.

Edited by Jim Pomager
Assistant Editor, Pharmaceutical Online