International drugmaking companies Eli Lilly of=20 Indianapolis and Glaxo-Wellcome of London announced this=20 week that they have agreed to buy South Africa’s largest=20 private drug benefits manager, Medikredit. =20
Medikredit processes prescriptions for more than half the=20 country’s 190 private health plans and virtually all 3 000=20 retail pharmacies.=20
The acquisition follows Lilly’s purchase of United States=20 drug benefits manager PCS Health Systems last year.
Drug benefits managers are hired by health plans to choose=20 the most cost effective medicines.=20
Lilly and other major drugmakers have been buying these=20 companies as a way to generate new revenues from management=20 fees and also to gain a competitive advantage for their=20 drugs over those made by competing firms.
The drug companies are also using their prescription=20 management arms to delve into an emerging business called=20 disease management, in which drug-use data from thousands=20 of patients is used to establish improved methods of curing=20