Jim Cramer Blog

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is rolling out $4 generics at all its Minnesota pharmacies today, the discount retail giant announced Monday. Consumers now can obtain low-cost generic prescription drugs from 3,810 Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Neighborhood Market pharmacies in 49 states. The program is “one way we can make medication more affordable and accessible to people who need it the most,” said Julie Idelkope, Wal-Mart’s senior manager for public affairs in Minneapolis. It’s a move that many consumers will welcome, said Dan Rodgers, manager of the Wal-Mart store in Willmar. Generic drugs — which have the same active ingredients as name-brand drugs — generally cost less. By switching to generics, consumers can in many cases save as much as 30 to 60 percent on their prescription drugs. Wal-Mart’s program covers 331 generic drugs in 26 therapeutic categories, ranging from commonly used antibiotics such as amoxicillin and tetracycline to cardiac medications, including atenolol, lisinopril and furosemide.
Idelkope said the list represents more than 25 percent of prescriptions dispensed nationwide by Wal-Mart pharmacies. Fourteen of the top 20 prescribed drugs in the United States are on the list. For now, consumers who want the $4 generic price must pick up their medication in person at a Wal-Mart pharmacy versus having their drugs mailed to them. The program also will limit consumers to a 30-day supply. This might change if the company determines it’s feasible to extend the program to mail-order drugs or to allow more than a 30-day supply, Idelkope said. Overall savings are projected to be significant. Wal-Mart estimates that a $4 month-long supply of metformin, used to treat diabetes, will save $1.3 million a month. The estimated monthly saving on generic warfarin, which is prescribed to prevent blood clots, is $750,000. This is a big step for Wal-Mart and expect the market to react positively to this.

Labels: generic drugs, Minnesota, Pharmaceuticals, Wal-Mart, WMT

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. on Wednesday announced plans to buy Embrex Inc. in a cash deal valued at $155 million.
The stock price of Durham-based Embrex (Nasdaq: EMBX - News) rocketed upward on the news, climbing nearly 40 percent to $16.62 in afternoon trading.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer Animal Health, a subsidiary of New York-based Pfizer Inc., will pay $17 per share for Embrex, which manufactures poultry vaccines and machines that vaccinate poultry inside the egg. Pfizer's offer is a 43 percent premium over Embrex's closing stock price Tuesday of $11.92.
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE - News) did not disclose specific plans for Embrex's 300 employees, approximately half of whom work at the company's Durham operations. Pfizer spokesman Bob Fauteux says it is likely that an announcement on employees won't come until the completion of the acquisition, which is expected in the first quarter of 2007.
"We don't have the employees who are experts in the poultry market," Fauteux says. "In order to fully leverage the (Embrex) technology, we're going to need the technical expertise that so many of the Embrex people have."
Embrex posted 2006 third quarter net income of $734,000, or 9 cents per diluted share, an 11 percent gain over the previous third quarter. Total revenue in the third quarter reached $14.4 million, up 8 percent from the $13.2 million it recorded in the 2005 third quarter.
The company's 2005 total revenue topped $52 million, with 37 percent of sales coming from outside the United States.
With 2005 sales of $2.2 billion, Pfizer Animal Health develops and sells medicines and vaccines for livestock, including beef and dairy cattle and swine. The company has been out of the poultry business since 2000, when it sold off its feed-additive business.
Telephone calls seeking comment from Embrex officials were not immediately returned.
Published November 15, 2006 by the Triangle Business Journal

Labels: EMBX, pfe, Pfizer, Pharmaceuticals