Walgreens Boots Alliance Makes a Majority Investment into iA to Advance Automation Capabilities for the Pharmacy Industry

Rhea-AI Summary

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) has announced a majority investment in iA, a provider of software-enabled automation solutions for the pharmacy sector. This strategic investment aims to enhance iA's pharmacy automation offerings, thus streamlining medication dispensing and enabling pharmacists to focus more on patient care. The move aligns with the growing demand for efficient healthcare solutions, especially post-COVID-19, aiming to modernize pharmacy operations and improve patient outcomes.

Positive

• WBA's majority investment in iA aims to enhance pharmacy automation solutions.
• The partnership aligns with the increasing demand for efficient healthcare services.
• The investment will allow pharmacists to focus more on patient care.

Negative

• None.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) and iA today announced that WBA has made a majority investment in iA, a leading-edge provider of software enabled automation solutions for retail, hospital, federal healthcare and mail-order pharmacy markets. WBA’s investment will support iA’s expansion and further development of pharmacy automation solutions to benefit the entire pharmacy industry.

For millions of Americans, the pharmacist is an essential partner in ensuring their health and quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an even greater sense of urgency for patients and customers to have direct access to pharmacists to receive trusted care and advice in order to take care of their families. iA’s pharmacy automation solutions enable the shifting of much of the current medication dispensing labor that takes place in a retail pharmacy to more efficient, centralized settings, therefore freeing up more time for pharmacists to deliver front-line patient care.

“The role of pharmacists as an integral part of the healthcare system and patients’ care teams has never been more critical,” said Stefano Pessina, executive vice chairman and CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance. “The iA mission to further modernize and automate the prescription fulfillment process aligns with our priority to create the pharmacy of the future, reducing operational costs and enabling pharmacists to spend more time providing valuable healthcare services to patients such as vaccinations, diagnostic testing and medication management.”

“iA is passionately committed to working across all of pharmacy to ensure that all of our current customers, and any pharmacy across the country, has an opportunity to realize the optimum use and expansion of our software enabled pharmacy automation solutions,” said Marvin Richardson, CEO of iA. “Over the past year, we have seen an unprecedented demand for our solutions in order to move pharmacists’ non-patient facing work out of a store environment, allowing pharmacy providers of any size and any location to take advantage of the accuracy and efficacy of today’s pharmacy automation solutions while providing improved patient choice and impactful patient care. Together with WBA, we will work to unleash the full potential of pharmacy.”

Notes to Editors:

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is a global leader in retail and wholesale pharmacy, touching millions of lives every day through dispensing and distributing medicines, and through its convenient retail locations, digital platforms and health and beauty products. The company has more than 100 years of trusted healthcare heritage and innovation in community pharmacy and pharmaceutical wholesaling.

Including equity method investments, WBA has a presence in more than 25 countries, employs more than 450,000 people and has more than 21,000 stores.

WBA’s purpose is to help people across the world lead healthier and happier lives. The company is proud of its contributions to healthy communities, a healthy planet, an inclusive workplace and a sustainable marketplace. WBA is a Participant of the United Nations Global Compact and adheres to its principles-based approach to responsible business.

WBA is included in FORTUNE’s 2020 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies*, ranked first in the food and drugstore category. This is the 27th consecutive year that WBA or its predecessor company, Walgreen Co., has been named to the list.

More company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.

*© 2020, Fortune Media IP Limited. Used under license.

(WBA-GEN)

About iA

iA is a leading-edge provider of software enabled pharmacy automation solutions. With over 25 years in the pharmacy fulfillment business, iA has invented and developed a suite of software driven pharmacy automation solutions. From PharmAssist Symphony software, to modular hardware and sophisticated counting and collation devices, iA is empowering pharmacists and unleashing the full potential of pharmacy. iA can run the prescription fulfillment process from end-to-end, helping pharmacies manage fulfillment and inventory to help lower costs, improve efficiency, and provide comprehensive Rx tracking and real-time support. For high volume centralized fulfillment or pharmacy operations — iA can help customers transform their pharmacy. For more information, visit iARx.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. All statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the ownership stake investment and the ability to achieve anticipated financial and operating results in the amounts and at the times anticipated, as well as those described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-K for its fiscal year ending August 31, 2020, and in other documents that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. files or furnishes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. and iA do not undertake, and expressly disclaim, any duty or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

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FAQ

What is Walgreens Boots Alliance's latest investment related to?

Walgreens Boots Alliance has made a majority investment in iA to enhance pharmacy automation solutions.

How does WBA's investment in iA affect its operations?

The investment aims to modernize WBA's pharmacy operations, enabling more efficient medication dispensing and allowing pharmacists to focus on patient care.

What market needs does WBA's investment in iA address?

The investment addresses the increasing demand for efficient and modern pharmacy solutions, especially heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What benefits does WBA expect from the partnership with iA?

WBA expects to reduce operational costs and enhance the quality of patient services through improved automation in pharmacies.