Category Archives: Wholesale Pharmacy

SILVER SPRING, Md., April 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Pharmagen, Inc. (PHRX) (the "Company" or "Pharmagen") today announced financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012. On a consolidated basis, net revenues for the fiscal year 2012 totaled $4.26 mln vs. 2011 of $863K, representing 490% growth year-over-year. The company had one-time, non-recurring expenses of $1.2 mln related to going public and the investments it made in building a foundation for future growth. The company spent much of 2012 building the cornerstones for a move toward profitability in 2013. This included acquiring BryceRx Laboratories, Inc., which not only grew the company's topline with prescription based revenue but also dramatically increased the company's gross profit. Pharmagen's branded OTC product, Clotamin, has demonstrated consistent momentum growing from being carried in several hundred stores to being carried nationally at over 7,000 locations at one of the leading pharmacy chains in the world. The company has made significant investments in Clotamin and expects continued growth of the product across other major national retailers and internationally. From a brand prospective, the company went through a strategic realignment. Pharmagen is now moving toward being the leader in pragmatic solutions to the drug shortage crisis in the … Continue reading →

STAFFORD-- The Stafford Food Center, a town landmark on West Main Street, will be downsizing but not going out of business as a real estate developer plans to revamp the site. At a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Tuesday an official with a Springfield-based commercial real estate development company presented a "concept plan" for the site that included two smaller buildings in place of the current building that houses the food center. Peter LaPointe, vice president of real estate and construction with The Colvest Group, presented the plan to the PZC, which listened but took no action. LaPointe said he "wasnt at liberty to say" who might be occupying the two new buildings because there is no tenant under lease for either building yet, although he hinted that one might be a pharmacy. Go here to see the original: Stafford Food Center will be downsizing as developer revamps site … Continue reading →

VOL. 128 | NO. 60 | Wednesday, March 27, 2013 In recent years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reported an increase in the number of drug shortages and discontinuations. The number of drug shortages reported to the FDA gained 41 percent to 251 shortages in 2011, compared to 178 shortages reported in 2010. The agency says it continues to see an increasing number of shortages, including drugs used to treat cancer, anesthetics used for patients undergoing surgery, drugs needed for emergency medicine and injectable drugs. The FDA also has reported a spike in the number of medications that have been discontinued. Brett Wright, the owner of Benevere Pharmacy in Collierville, says hes noticed an increase in the number of his clients requesting medications that are no longer commercially available. Wright, who is a pharmacist by training, opened Benevere Pharmacy in May. The pharmacy specializes in custom-making medications that are tailored to meet the medical needs of an individual patient. Sometimes compounding is needed because a patient may be allergic to a certain dye, or an elderly patient may need a medicine in a liquid or suppository form that is not available. In other cases, compounding is necessary because … Continue reading →

In its ongoing effort to crack down on the nation's prescription-drug epidemic, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has gone after doctors, pharmacists, pharmacy chains, wholesale drug suppliers, and now -- FedEx and UPS. Even though the DEA will not confirm it is engaged in the probe, both companies have disclosed in corporate filings that they are targets of a federal investigation related to packages shipped from online pharmacies. Based on the allegations, it appears federal officials are suggesting the shipping companies take responsibility for the prescription drugs inside packages they are transporting. FedEx officials have called the California-based probe "absurd and deeply disturbing," and a threat to customers' privacy. "We are a transportation company -- we are not law enforcement, we are not doctors and we are not pharmacists," FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald said in a prepared statement. Though the probe has been unfolding quietly for several years, the investigation is now gaining headlines and attention from politicians, including Winter Park congressman John Mica. In a letter sent to DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart and Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month, Mica asked the leaders to recognize "the difficulty and unfairness of requiring those carriers to assume responsibility for the … Continue reading →

MINNEAPOLIS Supervalu on Friday said it has hired new heads of technology and human resources and said Janel Haugarth will continue to lead the companys wholesale/independent business operations. Following the completion Thursday of the sale of its largest traditional supermarket chains, Supervalu said it has named Randy Burdick executive vice president and chief information officer, effective March 25. He spent the last eight years as CIO at OfficeMax, and has more 28 years of experience in a variety of leadership roles in technology. He succeeds Kathy Persian, who is leaving the company after six months as senior VP and CIO. Also, Michele Murphy was promoted to executive VP of human resources and corporate communications for Supervalu, effective March 25. She has spent the last seven years as senior vice president of corporate human resources and labor relations. She has more than 30 years of experience in a variety of positions dealing with employment law, human resources and labor relations. Murphy succeeds Dave Pylipow, who will leave the company at the end of April. Pylipow had been EVP of HR and communications since 2006, and previously was VP of HR at Supervalus Save-a-Lot division. Read more: Supervalu Revamps Executive Ranks In … Continue reading →

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SUPERVALU (SVU) today announced appointments to its executive team, including Janel Haugarth who will remain with the company as executive vice president and president of independent business and supply chain services. The announcement comes as Sam Duncan, SUPERVALU president and chief executive officer, continues finalizing his leadership team following the sale of five retail banners to AB Acquisition LLC, a transaction that was completed yesterday, March 21, 2013. Haugarth to continue as head of SUPERVALUs largest division Haugarth, who has spent more than 35 years in a variety of leadership positions with SUPERVALU, agreed to continue as executive vice president and president of independent business and supply chain services. In this important role, Haugarth will oversee the companys wholesale and distribution business which is expected to account for nearly 50 percent of SUPERVALUs annual revenues after the transaction closes. SUPERVALUs Independent Business division is the primary grocery supplier to nearly 2,000 of the countrys most successful independent grocery retailers across 43 states. She also will lead supply chain services for the company which consists of 19 distribution centers across the country. It was a priority for me to keep Janel with the organization going forward, said Duncan. She … Continue reading →

The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) has published its annual Retirement Confidence Survey which confirms what virtually all such surveys have concluded: 1) that Americans are living longer; and 2) that they do not have anywhere near enough saved for retirement. The sad truth is, Americans do almost no thinking about what kind of retirement they want. They mistakenly assume that Social Security is a retirement program, when in fact it is a supplemental retirement program. The three "stools" of retirement-Social Security, a pension, and private savings-have all seen some shrinkage in the past few years. For Social Security, all baby boomers know the truth: We are going to be working longer, into our 70s, paying more and getting less. Pensions are going away: International Business Machines (IBM) stopped providing pensions to new employees a couple years ago, and many are facing reductions in their benefits. (Read More: Cities That Are Most Prepared for Retirement ) And private savings? Let me quote from the EBRI survey: 57 report having less than $25,000 in household savings and investments (excluding their home and pension benefits). This is for all workers, so older workers would have more money, but other surveys show the … Continue reading →

The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) has published its annual Retirement Confidence Survey which confirms what virtually all such surveys have concluded: 1) that Americans are living longer; and 2) that they do not have anywhere near enough saved for retirement. The sad truth is, Americans do almost no thinking about what kind of retirement they want. They mistakenly assume that Social Security is a retirement program, when in fact it is a supplemental retirement program. The three "stools" of retirement-Social Security, a pension, and private savings-have all seen some shrinkage in the past few years. For Social Security, all baby boomers know the truth: We are going to be working longer, into our 70s, paying more and getting less. Pensions are going away: International Business Machines (IBM) stopped providing pensions to new employees a couple years ago, and many are facing reductions in their benefits. (Read More: The US Cities That Are Most Prepared for Retirement ) And private savings? Let me quote from the EBRI survey: 57 report having less than $25,000 in household savings and investments (excluding their home and pension benefits). This is for all workers, so older workers would have more money, but other surveys … Continue reading →

Wanda Ferrin fills her husband's prescription for the generic antibiotic doxycycline at a Target in Simi Valley. For years, the medication has cost her $6 a month. In February, however, the price tripled to $18 for 30 pills. And this month, it skyrocketed to $133. This is noteworthy enough. But what happened next makes the entire business of drug pricing a study in lunacy. "A pharmacy clerk at Target suggested running the prescription through the company's discount program," Ferrin, 61, recalled. "After a minute at the computer, the clerk I'd been dealing with came back and said my price was now $8." That's right: A $6 drug turns into an $18 drug and then a $133 drug. But with a little retail hocus-pocus, it can be changed to an $8 drug. Talk about a trip through the looking glass. I heard a number of stories similar to Ferrin's after writing recently about a CVS customer who saw her bill for generic doxycycline jump from $4.30 to $165. One reader told me about a doubling of the price of the generic gout medicine colchicine. Another cited prices for the generic version of the blood-clot blocker Plavix that ran from $21 to … Continue reading →

An ex-pharmacy worker will be subject to random drug screens until her sentencing hearing next month. Norma J. Zapata, 30, of 230 Whittlesey Ave., Lot 10, pleaded guilty Wednesday to theft of hydrocodone. She faces six to 12 months behind bars when she is sentenced April 24 for the Aug. 15 incident. "The state would be recommending some form of community control," Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler said. When Zapata was working at a local pharmacy, store officials determined they were missing some drugs, he said. Internal security workers performed an audit and analyzed video surveillance footage. "Essentially, Miss Zapata was caught on video stealing a bottle of something," Leffler said. "Of course, she was fired from her job." The prosecutor said investigators suspect Zapata had been selling the drugs and made $400. When police recovered one of the bottles, there were pills missing. "We have no independent proof she sold the drugs," said Leffler, who credited the defendant for being cooperative during the investigation. While Leffler said he's unsure if Zapata has a drug problem, he requested Huron County Common Pleas Judge Jim Conway make the random drug screens a condition of her bond. The defendant told the judge … Continue reading →