Magellan Rx and Zipline Partner to Deliver Specialty and Traditional Prescriptions

Magellan Rx Management, the full-service pharmacy benefits management division of Magellan Health, Inc., and Zipline, the global leader in instant logistics, today announced a partnership to deliver prescription medications, including specialty medications that treat chronic, complex conditions, directly to patients’ homes via autonomous aircraft.

Magellan Rx will be the first pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) to deliver specialty and traditional medications through Zipline, which designs, manufactures and operates the world’s largest automated on-demand delivery service.

Initially, this option will be available to Magellan Rx members in the North Carolina service area and will provide a re-imagined consumer-centric approach to support patients on their healthcare journey. Magellan Rx expects to begin operations in 2022, pending approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and will operate from Zipline’s existing distribution center in Kannapolis, North Carolina, which is capable of serving customers within 7,800 square miles. Through automated on-demand delivery, healthcare organizations and patients can receive the medications they need in as little as fifteen minutes.

Magellan Rx Management is shaping the future of pharmacy. As pioneers in specialty drug management, industry leaders in Medicaid pharmacy programs and disruptors in pharmacy benefit management, it partners with customers and members to deliver a best-in-class healthcare experience.

In 2021 Magellan Rx and Trapelo Health announced that they are collaborating to champion a more comprehensive, integrated approach to value-based care in the new era of precision oncology treatments.

The collaboration combines the unique strengths of the two organizations: Magellan Rx’s comprehensive oncology management solution, and the Trapelo^® precision-medicine platform that enables fast, precise test and treatment decision support, including test order management, results interpretation and streamlined prior authorizations.

Centene Corporation recently acquired to acquire Magellan Health for $2.2 billion. The combination brings together the companies’ complementary capabilities in behavioral health, specialty healthcare and pharmacy management.

As a result of the transaction, Centene established one of the nation’s largest behavioral health platforms across 41 million unique members with enhanced capabilities to deliver better health outcomes for complex, high-cost populations.

Magellan Health also added to Centene’s leadership in government sponsored healthcare, bringing 5.5 million new members on government-sponsored plans.

Magellan Health also provides specialty health services for 18 million third-party customer members in addition to Centene’s own members. Furthermore, the transaction added 2 million PBM members and 16 million medical pharmacy members, enhancing the scale of Centene’s pharmacy platform with leading capabilities in specialty drug management.

Takeaway: Magellan Rx takes a leadership position in delivering specialty and traditional medications by drone