Bergen Brunswig Forms Partnership With Pharmacies

Drug distributor Bergen Brunswig Corp. said Wednesday that it has formed a partnership with a subsidiary of the California Pharmacists Assn. to help independent pharmacies break into the managed-care market.

An increasing number of drugstore chains are signing on with managed-care drug programs--similar to health maintenance organizations--but smaller, community pharmacies are facing extinction because of revenue lost to chains.

Bergen Brunswig, though its revenue has been rising, has been faced with declining profit. The company, based in Orange, said last year that it would be forced to lay off about 500 employees and restructure some of its operations. The deal with Pharmaceutical Care Network, a managed-care prescription plan, would be important for Bergen because the network distributes drugs to 20% of the nation’s independent pharmacies.

Bergen Brunswig, which has annual revenue of nearly $7 billion, would likely see an increase in its own drug sales by helping smaller pharmacies survive in an increasingly competitive market, analysts said.