Drugstore chain Walgreens and health insurer Humana are in preliminary talks to take stakes in each other, Dow Jones reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
The reportedly wide-ranging talks include the possibility of expanding a clinic partnership.
The talks are a sign of the disruption facing both pharmacies and health insurance, especially from formidable competitors such as Amazon, which recently acquired online pharmacy PillPack. Amazon is also partnering with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan to reduce employee health-care costs.
Pharmacy sales account for almost 70 percent of Walgreens’ U.S. revenue. In the less competitive international retail environment, Walgreens garners about 35 percent of its sales from its pharmacy.
But Walgreens has been hoping to position itself as more of a broader health-care company helping to transform patient experience, while lowering costs. To this end Walgreen has been signing deals with a number of health-care companies including Human and diagnostics company LabCorp.
