Dept. Pharmacy

  1. Trends & External Forces

The Top 15 Specialty Pharmacies of 2025: PBM-Affiliated Pharmacies Dominate While Health Systems and Independents Gain Ground

By Adam J. Fein, Ph.D. Drug Channels Institute’s (DCI’s) latest analysis reveals that PBM-affiliated specialty pharmacies continue to dominate the dispensing of specialty drugs. For 2025, DCI has identified more than 1,900 dispensing locations with specialty pharmacy accreditation from one or both of the two major independent accreditation organizations. The overall number of accredited locations […]
2 min read
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  1. Department: Food

Your Views:   Backlashes

We had a story the other day about how Target plans to adjust its approach to grocery by focusing more on specialized products, and moving away from the something-for-everyone strategy. I was, to say the least, dubious. In wrote, ion part: The thing is, it isn’t easier to be an effective specialty food retailer.  It’s […]
13 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Mapping the Vertical Integration of Insurers, PBMs, GPOs, Specialty Pharmacies, and Healthcare Services: DCI’s 2026 Update

It’s time for Drug Channels Institute’s (DCI) annual update of vertical integration among insurers, PBMs, specialty pharmacies, and healthcare services within U.S. drug channels. As you can see below, we have updated and revised our infamous illustration of the major vertical business relationships within the largest companies. These organizations continue to exert greater control over […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The Net Pricing Revolution in the Drug Channel: What’s Deflating the Gross-to-Net Bubble (rerun)

This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while we prepare for today’s live video webinar: PBM Industry Update 2026: Trends, Challenges, and What’s Ahead. Click here to see the original post from January 2026. As I highlighted last week, we are entering the Net Pricing Drug Channel (NPDC) era—a market environment in which net prices, […]
3 min read
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  1. Channel: Ecommerce & Digital

Andy Jassy On Grocery, Squiggly Lines, Betting Big, & Music Lessons

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has posted his annual letter to shareholders, following in a tradition begun by founder and then-CEO Jeff Bezos in 1997.  (As usual, Amazon also posts the original 1997 message after the new missive, which is one way to indicate that as much as the business has evolved and grown, its core […]
7 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The FTC Blows Up Express Scripts’ PBM Model—and Launches the Net Pricing Drug Channel (rerun)

This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while we prepare for tomorrow’s live video webinar: PBM Industry Update 2026: Trends, Challenges, and What’s Ahead. In February, I posted a few follow-up comments reflecting on Mark Cuban’s reaction to the settlement. Click here to see the original post from February 2026. Earlier today, the Federal Trade […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

List Price Reductions Will Deflate the Gross-to-Net Bubble–and Threaten Pharmacy and 340B Profits from IRA-Negotiated Drugs (rerun)

This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while we prepare for Friday’s live video webinar: PBM Industry Update 2026: Trends, Challenges, and What’s Ahead. Since this article was published last December, Net Pricing Drug Channel developments have accelerated. Manufacturers reduced the list prices for 6 of the 10 products with an MFP for 2026. They […]
3 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The Big Three PBMs’ 2026 Formulary Exclusions: MFP, Private Label Biosimilars, and Direct-to-Patient Threats for PBMs (rerun)

This week, we’re rerunning some popular posts while we prepare for Friday’s live video webinar: PBM Industry Update 2026: Trends, Challenges, and What’s Ahead. Click here to see the original post from January 2026. For 2026, the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—Caremark (CVS Health), Express Scripts (Cigna), and Optum Rx (United Health Group)—have once […]
3 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Drug Channels News Roundup, March 2026: Cigna’s 340B Workaround, Merck’s ARPA Surprise, Walgreens’ Automation Bet, Why Rebates Hurt Patients, and a DCI Team Photo

Spring is here in always-sunny Philadelphia. The vernal equinox has brought us an unexpected bounty of noteworthy news: Cigna’s clever vertical integration move Merck cuts drug prices—and Medicaid and 340B pay more Walgreens’ big pharmacy technology play How plans profit—and patients lose—from highly rebated drugs Plus: A bonus photo from the Drug Channels Leadership Forum […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

CVS Tests Small Store, Rx-Only Format.  A Harbinger Of The Future?

From Forbes: “CVS Health is pushing forward with plans to open nearly 20 smaller “pharmacy-only” stores by the end of this year. “The healthcare giant Monday opened the first such pharmacy-only store this year on Chicago’s West Side where access to healthcare and pharmacy services can be a challenge. Executives said the new pharmacy will […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The Top Pharmacy Benefit Managers of 2025: Market Share and Key Industry Developments

Three is still the magic number for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). For 2025, 80% of all equivalent prescription claims were processed by three companies: the CVS Caremark business of CVS Health, the Express Scripts business of Cigna, and the Optum Rx business of UnitedHealth Group. Express Scripts continued to pull ahead of its peers, while […]
3 min read
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  1. Media & Marketing

The Rare Journey Needs a Special Pharmacy Partner

Today’s guest post is from Bansi Nagji, Chief Executive Officer at PANTHERx Rare. Bansi argues that rare disease pharmacy is a fundamentally different model built around precision, speed, and hyper-personalized care. He suggests how manufacturers and stakeholders must rethink their assumptions to effectively support the unique demands of rare disease patient journeys. Hear from PANTHERx […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

NOW AVAILABLE: The 2026 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers

I am pleased to announce Drug Channels Institute’s new 2026 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers, now available for purchase and immediate download. Download a free 32-page report overview–including Key Industry Trends, What’s New in this edition, the Table of Contents, and a List of Exhibits. Review pricing and license options and […]
4 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The Top 15 U.S. Pharmacies of 2025: Market Shares and Revenues at the Biggest Chains, PBMs, and Specialty Pharmacies

Next week, the Drug Channels Institute (DCI) will release our 2026 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers. This 17th edition provides our most comprehensive and up-to-date examination of the U.S. drug pricing, reimbursement, and dispensing system. For 2025, DCI estimates that total prescription dispensing revenues at retail, mail, long-term care, and specialty […]
3 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

PBM Industry Update 2026: Trends, Challenges, and What’s Ahead (NEW Live Video Webinar)

Join Dr. Adam J. Fein, president of Drug Channels Institute (DCI) and the editor of Drug Channels, for his latest exclusive video webinar: PBM Industry Update 2026: Trends, Challenges, and What’s Ahead This event will be broadcast live on: Friday, April 10, 2026 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET Dr. Fein will be joined by […]
4 min read
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  1. Channel: Mass

Target to open 2,000th store

​[[{“value”:” This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive Brief: Target will open its 2,000th store this year in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, as part of its broader brick-and-mortar expansion strategy, the retailer said in a Thursday press release.  Located near Raleigh, North Carolina, the 148,000-square-foot store “represents the future of Target’s […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Preorder Now: DCI’s 2026 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers

On March 24, 2026, Drug Channels Institute will release The 2026 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers. This report—our seventeenth edition—remains the most comprehensive, fact-based tool for understanding the entire U.S. drug pricing, reimbursement, and dispensing system. If you make strategic decisions in this industry, this report belongs on your desk. 12 […]
4 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Meet Every Shopper Where they are: The Retail Imperative for Multimodal, Accessible Self-Service

The New Reality of Retail Self-Service Self-service is no longer confined to a few large touchscreens near the front of a store. Today, it shows up everywhere, often in places shoppers do not consciously label as kiosks at all. It might be a self-checkout lane at a grocery store. A tablet used to order food […]
4 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Medicare Part D Pharmacy Networks in 2026: Supermarkets Dominate as Drugstores Stall and Independents Walk Away

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has just released its initial 2026 data on enrollment in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs). DCI’s exclusive analysis shows that 83% of seniors remain enrolled in PDPs with preferred pharmacy networks—essentially unchanged from 82% in 2025, but sharply lower than the 99% peak in 2023. […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The FTC Blows Up Express Scripts’ PBM Model—and Launches the Net Pricing Drug Channel

Earlier today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an extraordinary settlement with Express Scripts that fundamentally reshapes its pharmacy benefit management (PBM) business—and by extension, the entire drug channel. The settlement addresses virtually every warped incentive that we have been covering on Drug Channels for the past 20 years. I summarize them below, but it’s […]
2 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

New Drug Launches in a Self-Pay World: Why Access Strategy Matters as Much as Innovation

Today’s guest post comes from Laura Jensen, Chief Commercial Officer and President, Pharma Solutions at GoodRx. Laura argues that patient self-pay has evolved from a temporary bridge to a core access strategy for new drug launches. She examines how manufacturer-funded self-pay offers can be operational from day one. Click here to learn more about GoodRx’s […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The Big Three PBMs’ 2026 Formulary Exclusions: MFP, Private Label Biosimilars, and Direct-to-Patient Threats for PBMs

For 2026, the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—Caremark (CVS Health), Express Scripts (Cigna), and Optum Rx (United Health Group)—have once again excluded hundreds of drugs from their standard formularies. Our updated counts appear below. The 2026 lists highlight how formulary preferences for Humira and Stelara are dominated by private-label biosimilars affiliated with the same […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Aldi Reality Check

Scott Moses, partner and Head of the Grocery, Pharmacy & Restaurants Investment Banking practice at Solomon Partners, has posted another in his series of infographics illustrating the market power of major retailer – in this case, Aldi.  The graphic illustrates not just the extent of Aldi’s US footprint, but its ambitions;  its value proposition may […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The Net Pricing Revolution in the Drug Channel: What’s Deflating the Gross-to-Net Bubble

As I highlighted last week, we are entering the Net Pricing Drug Channel (NPDC) era—a market environment in which net prices, not list prices, determine access, economics, and competitive strategy. This shift represents a structural change in how value is created and captured across the U.S. drug channel. The NPDC will: Reward simpler pricing models […]
3 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Facial Recognition Continues To Be Focus Of Controversy

CT Insider reports that “as Connecticut lawmakers look to ban facial recognition technology in retail establishments, one popular grocery chain is already using the tech at stores across the state.” That chain is ShopRite, and it is in the news in the wake of media scrutiny of the practice.  Wegmans has said it is using the […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces
  2. Shopper & Customer
  3. Technology & Innovation
  4. Trends & External Forces
  5. Associates & Employees
  6. Merchandising
  7. Stores & Formats

Walmart to Expand Digital Shelf Labels Chainwide

Walmart will deploy digital shelf labels (DSLs) chainwide this year, doubling the approximately 2,300 U.S. locations currently using the technology (Walmart U.S. operates more than 4,600 stores). With more than 120,000 items in a typical Walmart store, managing price changes manually requires significant associate hours. Additionally, these DSLs are equipped with LED lights that make […]
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