McKesson Tapped to Distribute Coronavirus Vaccines in U.S.
August 14 2020 - 5:16PM
Dow Jones News
By Jared S. Hopkins
McKesson Corp., one of the world's largest drug wholesalers and
the biggest vaccine middleman in the U.S., will be a main
distributor of Covid-19 vaccines nationwide should the shots prove
to work safely, federal health officials said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is
exercising an option in an existing 2016 contract with McKesson for
the distribution of a vaccine in the event of a pandemic, the U.S.
Health and Human Services Department said Friday.
Under the terms, McKesson would distribute coronavirus vaccines
and related supplies as directed by the CDC to clinics, hospitals
and other sites that would administer the shots, the department
said.
"Today's announcement puts another building block in place as
the nation moves toward a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine," CDC
Director Robert Redfield said. "McKesson is a leader in the
field."
Financial terms weren't disclosed for the arrangement, which
marks the latest move by the U.S. government -- and its Operation
Warp Speed -- to prepare for the rollout of coronavirus vaccines,
this time regarding their distribution to facilities where doses
would be administered to patients.
The federal government has struck deals with vaccine makers that
could be worth more than $9 billion to secure hundreds of millions
of doses, in addition to taking steps to guarantee supplies of
vials and syringes.
The collaboration with McKesson is the first major step toward
determining how the shots would be distributed from manufacturing
plants and where Americans will need to go to receive them. Yet
many questions remain, including, for instance, about who will get
initial doses, which are expected to be limited. There will also be
challenges such as transporting and storing vaccines that need to
be kept at freezing temperatures.
By choosing McKesson, the federal government appears to be
trying to take advantage of the infrastructure used to deliver
children's vaccines. The government used the childhood vaccination
program to send shots for the H1N1 virus to hospitals and doctors'
offices during the avian-flu pandemic in 2009 and 2010. McKesson
distributed that vaccine.
The company, based in Irving, Tex., is the nation's largest
distributor of seasonal flu vaccines. It distributes up to 150
million doses of all vaccines annually to public-health clinics,
hospitals, physician offices, nursing homes, pharmacies and other
facilities, it said.
"Since the onset of the pandemic, McKesson has leveraged our
deep expertise to help maintain the integrity of the health-care
supply chain, source and distribute personal protective equipment
to front-line workers and stand up Covid-19 testing," Chief
Executive Brian Tyler said.
Federal health officials said Thursday that the U.S. government
would purchase enough vaccines for the entire population, ensure
they are provided free of charge and cover the cost of their
distribution.
Pharmaceutical companies such as Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca
PLC, as well as a partnership between Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE
are already evaluating their shots in large, 30,000-person trials
around the world. Results are expected in the coming months, and
health officials have said a vaccine could be authorized for
emergency use as early as November.
--Rebecca Ballhaus contributed to this article.
Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 14, 2020 17:01 ET (21:01 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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