Medco buys Polymedica for $1.5B

Medco Health Solutions hopes that what's good for diabetes patients is also good for its bottom line. The company has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to acquire PolyMedica, the nation's largest supplier of blood-glucose testing supplies and other diabetes-related services.

The two companies already have been working together; Medco fills some 50,000 scrips a week for PolyMedica patients, and Polymedica has offered testing supplies and Medicare Part B management services to some Medco clients. The companies say the deal creates "the nation's most advanced large-scale practice focused on diabetes care."

Medco will pay $53 per share for PolyMedica, which closed Monday at $45.29. Together, the two companies will serve some 3.8 million diabetes patients.

- read the CNN report on the deal

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