Cigna just dropped $100 million on AI. Private equity swallowed Asembia whole.
These aren’t anomalies. They’re just the latest signals in a fever pitch that’s gripping healthcare.
Everyone wants a slice of specialty pharmacy.
It’s no longer just the slow lane of pills and capsules at CVS. It’s biologic meds. Complex treatments. Things that don’t fit in a blister pack. And because these drugs are expensive, complex, and essential, they command the biggest budgets.
Take the GLP-1 weight loss drugs. The flood of people chasing those prescriptions has skewed spending dramatically.
Specialty drugs now account for more than half of all prescription spending. For employers, it’s worse. Sixty percent or more of their drug budgets vanish on specialty items alone.
The money is already flowing. UnitedHealth. Humana. CVS. Elevance. They’ve thrown billions at this sector in the last two years alone.
Cigna is leading the charge with its “Pharmacy Forward” initiative. Matt Perlberg, the boss of Evernorth Health Services, claims patients in crisis need expert support, not just a transaction. He says this new cash injection lets care teams focus on outcomes rather than processing timelines.
“Patients navigating complex health conditions need… expert support,” he says.
It sounds noble. It also sounds expensive.
Evernorth already spent $3.5 billion last year to buy Shields Health Solutions. Remember Shields? They were the hospital-pharmacy arm of Walgreens before private equity stripped Walgreens apart in a $10 billion fire sale. Sycamore Partners bought them, then sold the specialty side to Evernorth.
Evernorth also owns Accredo. They do home delivery. Infusion nurses visit houses. It’s medical logistics scaled to absurd lengths.
It’s not just Cigna though.
Elevance Health (the parent of Blue Cross Blue Shield in 14 states) bought BioPlus in 2023. Then Paragon Healthcare last year for infusion services. Humana is expanding its CenterWell specialty division to feed its Medicare Advantage seniors.
Private equity can’t stop sniffing around.
Peak Rock Capital just bought Asembia. The price tag wasn’t released. Peak Rock usually deals in the $50 million to $1 billion range, so expect a large number.
Asembia handles the messy stuff: distribution, tech, group purchasing. They run the AXS26 Summit.
The summit used to be a small room in Vegas with 24 executives. This year? 10,000 attendees. Over 1,500 businesses from around the globe descended on Wynn Las Vegas for four days.
That’s the scale we’re talking about.
Peak Rock managing director Spencer Moore didn’t hide their ambitions in the press release.
“We plan to also pursue complementary acquisitions,” Moore said.
He didn’t say they’re done.
We plan to also pursue complementary acquisitions
The message is clear.
This isn’t a niche anymore. It’s the core. The giants are buying up the infrastructure, the data, and the patient pipelines. The next buy is already being planned.
Who will blink first?
