Centene joins ranks of insurers buying into PBM market

Medicaid managed-care insurer Centene Corp. bought a stake in cloudbased pharmacy benefit manager RxAdvance to help the insurer lower drug costs and improve health outcomes.

St. Louis-based Centene didn’t reveal the size of the equity investment, but said it could expand its stake in the future.

The deal is the latest example of an insurer buying up or investing in PBMs to gain more control over pharmaceutical costs. In another recent deal, Cigna Corp. announced it would buy PBM Express Scripts for $67 billion. In December, Aetna agreed to become a stand-alone division within pharmacy chain and PBM CVS Health.

The RxAdvance partnership will help Centene “improve health outcomes and reduce avoidable drug-impacted medical and administrative costs,” the insurer said in the announcement.

Under the deal, Jesse Hunter, Centene’s executive vice president of mergers and acquisitions and chief strategy officer, will join RxAdvance’s board.