CVS Caremark Reports Strong Specialty Growth

During CVS Caremark’s first quarter earnings conference call on May 1, 2013, executives revealed that specialty is and will continue to be a “top priority.”

CVS Caremark’s first quarter revenues from its specialty pharmacy business increased 20% over the same quarter in 2012, according to the company’s earnings call held on May 1, 2013.

“Specialty pharmacy was also a key revenue driver, primarily due to new clients, new products, and drug cost inflation,” said CVS Caremark Chief Executive Officer and President Larry Merlo.

The executives added that the company has many new specialty initiatives underway, including a specialty medical benefit program that helps clients manage specialty medications through the medical benefit, an area that Merlo said “has been largely unmanaged in the past due to the lack of transparency.”

Merlo also revealed that the company recently acquired a technology platform that will help identify and capture cost savings opportunities. The new technology has features that will allow the company to obtain accurate drug pricing information, conduct prior authorizations, and unearth the most cost-effective sites of care.

Mark Cosby, executive vice president and president of CVS Pharmacy, said the company’s holistic approach to specialty management will help patients with chronic disease “as they progress in their disease state from a pharmacy benefit to a medical benefit.”