New $6B Eversana looks to bypass PBMs and lower drug prices
Eversana, a company that helps pharmaceutical manufacturers sell their drugs, has acquired Waltz Health, a startup focused on helping employers and insurers buy medications at lower prices.
The connective tissue between the two companies is industry veteran Mark Thierer, who is the current CEO of Waltz and an executive at Eversana. As the two now form a new entity, Thierer is set to take over as CEO.
The valuation of the merger is $6 billion—though Bloomberg, which wrote in-depth on the transaction, was unable to confirm the exact price. However, it did confirm that the name Eversana will be maintained as the brand for the combined company.
In speaking to Bloomberg, Thierer said he envisions disrupting the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) market, which he referred to as the “existing oligopoly that I helped build.”
The new Eversana, Thierer hopes, will present an alternative model that saves employers and insurers money on drug prices and reduces the power PBMs have over pharmacies.
That’s where Waltz comes in. The company’s platform automatically finds therapies for health plans and employers, targeting the lowest available prices from pharmacies in its network. When combined with Eversana’s relationships with drug manufacturers, Thierer sees a future of direct buying, bypassing PBMs altogether.
Where PBMs use rebates to offer pharmacies lower prices, Thierer said the new model could simply offer discounts embedded directly into drug prices—savings earned by cutting out the middleman.
For more details, read the full Bloomberg feature at the link below.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.