Walgreens Boots Alliance is paying $1.37 billion to buy the rest of Shields Health Solutions, a specialty pharmacy.

In the US, Walgreens operates retail drugstores, health and wellness services, and specialty and home delivery pharmacy services. In this buyout, Walgreens is acquiring the remaining 30% stake of Shields from equity holders.

Increasingly, medicines have become more complicated than just pills and capsules. Many require particular administration, storage, refrigeration, packaging, patient instructions, and distribution requirements, often for patients with complex conditions such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Specialty pharmacies play an essential role in the pharmacy industry.

Shields Health Solutions has nearly 80 health system partners representing approximately 1,000 hospitals nationwide, serving more than 1 million patients. Walgreens made its initial investment in Shields in 2019.

Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton