Drug Store News articles from June 2007

Drug Store News archives from June 2007

Cranbury, N.J.(NEWSBITES)
June 27, 2007... CRANBURY, N.J. -- A ShopRite store in Neptune, N.J., this week will see the grand opening of ExpressCare, a retail health care center and the first of a planned 42 locations. Six will open in New Jersey and Pennsylvania this summer, with...

Cincinnati.(NEWSBITES)
June 27, 2007... CINCINNATI -- The Kroger Co. confirmed it had agreed to acquire 20 Farmer Jack stores in the Detroit market from The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. The stores will become part of Kroger's 244-store Great Lakes division, based in Columbus,...

Fort Worth, Texas.(NEWSBITES)(mergers and acquisitions)(Brief article)
June 27, 2007... FORT WORTH, Texas -- Albertsons is exiting Oklahoma by selling 23 of its stores in the state to four Associated Wholesale Grocers member retailers and closing the remaining three units later this summer. In unrelated news, Albertsons...

Parsippany, N.J.(NEWSBITES)
June 27, 2007... PARSIPPANY, N.J. -- Novartis Consumer Health Friday morning announced that the FDA approved its Thrive (nicotine polacrilex gum 2 mg and 4 mg) to help smokers quit smoking in 12 weeks. The mint-flavored nicotine replacement gum will be...

Alexandria, Va.(NEWSBITES)
June 27, 2007... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Don Whetstone, senior director of merchandising strategy and development for the Walgreen Co., has been tapped to head a new industry advisory council for developing retail marketing standards.

Jacksonville, Fla.(NEWSBITES)(appointment of Dan Portnoy )(Brief article)
June 27, 2007... JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Winn-Dixie Stores has named Dan Portnoy senior vice president and chief merchandising and marketing officer. Portnoy, who is set to join the company in mid-July, will be responsible for leading the merchandising and...

London.(NEWSBITES)
June 27, 2007... LONDON -- Unilever announced last week that its newly created role, that of chief technology officer, would be filled by Neal Metheson. Matheson previously held the same title at Johnson & Johnson.

Alexandria, Va.(NEWSBITES)(appointment of Eric Zimmerman)(Brief article)
June 27, 2007... ALEXANDRIA, Va -- Mirixa Corp., the pharmacy-sponsored developer of clinical tools for pharmacist-based patient care services, announced the appointment of Eric Zimmerman as chief innovation officer. Zimmerman, who last served as senior vice...

NACDS Marketplace educates on best practices.
June 27, 2007... BOSTON -- Retailers and suppliers this week gathered at NACDS Marketplace, being held at the Boston Convention Exhibition Center, to experience the latest in product innovation and discuss the issues most critical to the future of the chain...

Fueled by store growth, Walgreens profits up nearly 20 percent.(Financial report)
June 27, 2007... DEERFIELD, Ill., -- A surging prescription market and repeated waves of new and maturing drug stores propelled Walgreen Co. to strong sales and profit gains in its fiscal 2007 third quarter. Net income for the period ended May 31 jumped...

House panel gives green light to overhaul of FDA oversight.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief article)
June 27, 2007... WASHINGTON -- A bill to overhaul and strengthen the Food and Drug Administration's drug oversight functions took another big step forward this week with the approval by a U.S. House of Representatives panel of legislation giving the agency...

Final rule on dietary supplements.
June 27, 2007... WASHINGTON -- In an attempt to ensure that dietary supplements contain no impurities or contaminants and that they are correctly labeled and produced in a quality manner, the Food and Drug Administration last week issued a final rule to...

Roche to acquire diagnostic firms.
June 27, 2007... PHILADELPHIA and BASEL, Switzerland -- Roche on Monday made a $3 billion offer to acquire Ventana Medical Systems, the maker of diagnostic systems that analyze human tissue to diagnose and treat cancer and infectious diseases. The tender...

Take Care, RediClinic accept Cigna.
June 27, 2007... BLOOMFIELD, Conn., and HOUSTON -- Take Care Health Systems, a subsidiary of Walgreens, last week added Cigna HealthCare to its network, enabling its members to have access to the national network of 53 in-store health clinics in Chicago,...

Walgreens' MTM showing benefits.
June 27, 2007... DEERFIELD, Ill. -- In the wake of a new patient outcomes study, Walgreen Co. is trumpeting the benefits of its medication therapy management program. Newly released clinical data show that the MTM program developed by Walgreens Health...

Bloomfield, Conn.(NEWSBITES)
June 20, 2007... BLOOMFIELD, Conn. -- Take Care Health Systems, a subsidiary of Walgreens, announced on Tuesday that it has added Cigna HealthCare to its network, enabling its members to have access to the national network of 53 in-store health clinics in...

Austin, Texas and Boulder, Colo.(NEWSBITES)
June 20, 2007... AUSTIN, Texas and BOULDER, Colo. -- Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Markets Tuesday announced the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing from July 31 to Aug. 1 to decide whether to...

New York.(NEWSBITES)
June 20, 2007... NEW YORK -- The Colgate-Palmolive Co. stated on Friday that the counterfeit toothpaste falsely labeled as Colgate poses a "low health risk." The update came a day after Colgate warned that counterfeit toothpaste was found on several discount...

Washington.(NEWSBITES)
June 20, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The American Pharmacists Association honored the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention with its Pinnacle Award for its efforts to improve patient safety.

Alexandria, Va.(NEWSBITES)
June 20, 2007... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The National Association of Chain Drug Stores last week appointed Christine Shott as vice president of media relations, effective July 9. She will report to Christopher Krese, senior vice president of the newly created...

Omaha, Neb.(NEWSBITES)
June 20, 2007... OMAHA, Neb. -- Regional mass merchant Pamida has promoted Joe VanAckeren to vice president of pharmacy, giving him overall responsibility for pharmacy operations, vendor relations, third-party processing and pharmacy business development for...

Cincinnati.(NEWSBITES)
June 20, 2007... CINCINNATI -- Procter & Gamble has announced several changes to its board, including the retirement of presiding director Norman Augustine following P & G's board meeting in August. Current P & G board member W. James McNerney will assume the...

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.(NEWSBITES)
June 20, 2007... FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Home Diagnostics on Monday named Tom Watlington, currently chief executive officer of Triage Wireless, to the company's board. Triage is a San Diegobased company that is developing a wireless vital signs monitoring...

CMS delays adoption of Medicaid reimbursement.
June 20, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Responding to an outpouring of alarm over imminent changes to the way the federal government calculates reimbursement rates for prescription drugs dispensed under the Medicaid program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...

Walgreens opens its Southeast distribution center.
June 20, 2007... ANDERSON, S.C. -- In an official send-off for a bold new experiment in employing large numbers of workers with disabilities, Walgreen Co. took the wraps off its massive new distribution center here with a grand opening event for media,...

RediClinic adds Medicare.
June 20, 2007... HOUSTON -- RediClinic last week announced that it has entered into provider agreements with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to accept traditional Medicare in all RediClinic locations. RediClinics, found in such stores as...

Cadbury to sell off beverage arm.
June 20, 2007... NEW YORK -- Cadbury Schweppes is looking to sell its American beverage business, including the 7-Up, Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, for more than $15 billion, according to a New York Times report. In addition, the company plans to cut...

Inverness buys QAS for $25M.(Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. acquired Quality Assured Services)(Brief article)
June 20, 2007... WALTHAM, Mass. -- Inverness Medical Innovations announced Monday morning that it has acquired Quality Assured Services, a Florida-based, privately held provider of diagnostic home tests and services to the U.S. marketplace, for an initial...

Spartan-Felpausch deal done.(acquisition of G and R Felpausch Co. and Spartan Stores Inc.)(Brief article)
June 20, 2007... GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Spartan Stores on Friday completed the previously announced acquisition of 20 retail grocery stores, two fuel centers and three convenience stores from G & R Felpausch Co., a privately held Hastings, Mich.-based retail...

Kerr joins cash-back program.
June 20, 2007... RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kerr Drug is the latest pharmacy retailer to ally with The Caregivers Marketplace to offer consumers cash back on purchases of eligible brand-name health care products. The program is aimed at the estimated 44 million...

JCG, Pathmark announce results.(Jean Coutu Group Inc.)(Pathmark Stores Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
June 20, 2007... LONGUEUIL, Quebec, and CARTERET, N.J. -- The Jean Coutu Group on Thursday announced retail-sales results for the four weeks ended June 2, reporting a 6.5 percent increase across the chain's Canadian store base. Across the Brooks/Eckerd...

CVS partners with Coinstar in Midwest.
June 20, 2007... BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Coinstar kiosks located at CVS/pharmacy stores in Midwestern and Western states will begin offering CVS gift cards in exchange for customers' loose change this summer. To use the Coin to Card service, consumers select...

CRN spends millions on campaign.(Council for Responsible Nutrition)(Brief article)
June 20, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Council for Responsible Nutrition on Monday launched a multiyear, multimillion dollar public relations campaign--called "Life... supplemented"--that focuses on the more than 150 million Americans who consume dietary...

Atlanta.(NEWSBITES)
June 13, 2007... ATLANTA -- The Coca-Cola Co.'s acquisition of Glaceau closed June 8. Coca-Cola had announced on May 25 that it planned to acquire Glaceau for $4.1 billion. Glaceau will operate as a separate business within Coca-Cola North America.

Thousand Oaks, Calif.(NEWSBITES)
June 13, 2007... THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Amgen has agreed to acquire Ilypsa, a private developer of treatments for kidney disorders, for $420 million, the company announced June 4. As part of its buying spree, Amgen on June 6 agreed to acquire Alantos, a...

Boulder, Colo.(NEWSBITES)
June 13, 2007... BOULDER, Colo. -- Wild Oats Markets still is interested in a merger with Whole Foods, despite a pending lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission to block the deal. According to Wild Oats, the FTC will seek a temporary restraining order pending...

Allegan, Mich.(NEWSBITES)
June 13, 2007... ALLEGAN, Mich. -- The Perrigo Co. stated that a federal court has ruled in its favor in patent litigation involving Pepcid Complete. Perrigo had been sued by Johnson & Johnson's McNeil unit and its partner Merck for infringement of a patent...

Tampa, Fla.(NEWSBITES)(In Case of Emergency Prescription Database)(Florida)(Brief article)
June 13, 2007... TAMPA, Fla. -- A group of organizations has launched the In Case of Emergency Prescription Database, an Internet site that provides secure access to a patient's medication history. Prescription information is gathered from such sources as...

Bannockburn, Ill.(NEWSBITES)
June 13, 2007... BANNOCKBURN, Ill. -- Omron Healthcare re-organized its marketing function. Rob Schneider will lead the team as general manager of marketing, and will be responsible for Omron's increased focus on the specialty channel and retail channel....

Overland Park, Kan.(NEWSBITES)
June 13, 2007... OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Sprint and GPShopper jointly launched Slifter, the first mobile local product search application that employs GPS technology to find products at neighboring retail locations. Sprint customers now can search and find...

Tarrytown, N.Y.(NEWSBITES)
June 13, 2007... TARRYTOWN, N.Y. -- Spar Group has named Gary Raymond chief executive officer and president, effective July 9. He also was appointed to the company's board of directors. Raymond will succeed cofounder Robert Brown, who will remain on as...

CVS/Caremark secures FEP contract renewal.(Federal Employees Health Benefits Program)(Brief article)
June 13, 2007... WOONSOCKET, R.I. -- CVS/Caremark announced last week that its Caremark pharmacy services division has secured a three-year contract renewal to provide retail pharmacy benefit services and all clinical services for the Federal Employee...

NACDS' Lee Verstandig resigns.(National Association of Chain Drug Stores)(Brief article)
June 13, 2007... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Lee Verstandig has resigned as senior vice president of government affairs at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, effective June 30. NACDS' Steven Anderson, president and chief executive officer, issued the...

House's PDUFA has more teeth.
June 13, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives this week will consider a tougher version of Senate Bill 1082, the FDA Revitalization Act, which broadens the agency's responsibility for long-term, post-approval drug outcomes and...

Coalition seeks biogenerics path.
June 13, 2007... WASHINGTON -- A coalition, composed of 68 companies and organizations, co-signed a letter sent June 5 to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., seeking passage of a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to...

AeroClinic opens in Atlanta.(AeroClinic Health Center)(Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport)(Brief article)
June 13, 2007... ATLANTA -- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport now is home to The AeroClinic Health Center, the latest airport-based health clinic to open its doors. Located pre-security, the AeroClinic Health Center walk-in clinic is...

Great-West adds MinuteClinic.(Great-West Healthcare)(Brief article)
June 13, 2007... MINNEAPOLIS -- MinuteClinic has become a participating provider with Great-West Healthcare, a national employee benefits provider with 2.2 million members nationwide. Patients enrolled in Great-West Healthcare will receive the in-network...

Together Rx enrolls 1 million.(Brief article)
June 13, 2007... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- More than 1 million Americans have enrolled in Together Rx Access, a free prescription-savings program for low-income individuals and families, since its inception in January 2005. With Together Rx Access, cardholders...

CVS expands ExtraCare program.(Brief article)
June 13, 2007... WOONSOCKET, R.I. -- CVS is further bolstering its successful ExtraCare loyalty rewards program by launching in Indianapolis a pilot program offering a new CVS-branded loyalty reward-payment card. In partnership with HSBC Finance Corp.'s...

Consumers like to choose their drugs.
June 13, 2007... PRINCETON, N.J. -- Americans are becoming more involved in selecting their own prescription drugs, a new survey by the Opinion Research Corp. revealed. More than two-thirds of the survey respondents said they are very comfortable...

Mylan wins amlodipine case with Pfizer.
June 13, 2007... PITTSBURGH -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Mylan Laboratories' motion to reverse an earlier decision in its patent-infringement litigation with Pfizer over amlodipine besylate, the generic version of Pfizer's...

Washington.(NEWSBITES)
June 6, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission cleared AstraZeneca's acquisition of MedImmune for $15.6 billion. Antitrust regulators have completed their review of the transaction and ended a waiting period, according to the FTC. The deal, first...

Green Bay, Wis.(NEWSBITES)(ShopKo Stores Inc. partners with Medical Marts Group)(Brief article)
June 6, 2007... GREEN BAY, Wis. -- ShopKo and Medical Marts Group have announced a partnership to provide health care clinics in many of the national ShopKo stores. The first Medical Marts will open late this summer within ShopKo stores in Utah and expand...

Jeffrey Noddle.(NEWSBITES)(Brief article)
June 6, 2007... MINNEAPOLIS -- At Supervalu's annual meeting, Supervalu chief executive officer Jeffrey Noddle announced that the company plans to open 25 to 30 stores and remodel 100 to 110 existing stores in the next fiscal year. Capital spending for the...

Gouverneur, N.Y.(NEWSBITES)(Richard Cognetti Jr. promoted at Kinney Drugs Inc.)(Brief article)
June 6, 2007... GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. -- Kinney Drugs recently promoted Richard Cognetti Jr. to the position of director of retail merchandising, the company announced. In his new role, Cognetti will report to Jim Wuest, vice president of marketing. The company...

Pleasanton, Calif.(NEWSBITES)
June 6, 2007... PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway has named Steve Neibergall president of the Eastern division. He replaces Hank Cominiello, who will become group vice president of retail initiatives. Neibergall most recently was senior vice president of produce...

Nash Finch Co.(NEWSBITES)
June 6, 2007... MINNEAPOLIS -- Nash Finch Co. named Joseph Friedman to the new position of senior director of pharmacy marketing, the company announced last week. He will report to Christopher Brown, executive vice president of food distribution. Friedman...

Allegan, Mich.(NEWSBITES)
June 6, 2007... ALLEGAN, Mich. -- Perrigo on Monday named Michael Simmons to the Perrigo executive team and promoted Jim Booydegraaff. Booydegraaff now will serve as the company's category manager for the prescription division, and Simmons has taken on the...

Rite Aid completes Brooks/Eckerd acquisition.(Brief article)
June 6, 2007... CAMP HILL, Pa. -- Rite Aid announced Monday morning that it has completed its acquisition of 1,854 Brooks and Eckerd stores and six distribution centers from The Jean Coutu Group, creating the largest drug store chain on the East Coast and...

Coca-Cola purchases Glaceau for $4.1 billion.
June 6, 2007... ATLANTA -- The Coca-Cola Co., looking to expand its "active lifestyle" beverage category, reached an agreement May 25 to acquire Energy Brands, known as Glaceau, for its enhanced-water brands, including vitaminwater. The acquisition, valued...

AMO considering $4.5 billion-plus acquisition of B & L.
June 6, 2007... SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Advanced Medical Optics recently announced that it would entertain Bausch & Lomb's go-shop process, potentially outbidding a merger agreement between B & L and affiliates of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm,...

Supreme Court asked not to hear 'reverse-payment' case.(Brief article)
June 6, 2007... WASHINGTON -- In the latest dust-up over the "authorized" generics and "reverse payments" issue, the U.S. Department of Justice is asking the Supreme Court to refuse to consider a long-standing case brought by opponents of the practice, on...

Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy, Longs see positive sales in May.
June 6, 2007... NEW YORK -- Walgreen Co., CVS/pharmacy and Longs in the past week reported increases in May sales. Walgreens reported May sales of $4.58 billion, an increase of 10.7 percent over the same period last year. Comp-store sales rose a...

Wal-Mart to limit supercenter growth.
June 6, 2007... BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- At its annual shareholders meeting, Wal-Mart Stores said it is limiting the number of U.S. supercenters it opens in fiscal 2008. Wal-Mart's new growth plans call for between 190 and 200 supercenters to be opened in fiscal...

FDA clears seven-day glucose monitor.
June 6, 2007... ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The Food and Drug Administration has approved a device that measures glucose levels continuously for up to seven days in people with diabetes. The new STS-7 Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, manufactured by DexCom...