CVS Joins Competitors to Sell Drug Trend Information
To "further capitalize" on its existing resources, CVS has aligned with nine competitors to form a "data company" that will sell information on pharmaceutical trends, the Providence Journal reports. The company, ArcLight, is a joint venture between CVS, Cardinal Health, grocery store chain Albertson's, Kmart, Walmart and "four smaller drug store chains." The company will sell subscriptions for $300,000 per year to R(x)ealTime, a computer program that tracks prescription drug sales. Through a Web site that will be updated every 10 minutes, clients can "research trends, follow product introductions and gauge marketing effectiveness" by looking at sales and "general demographics," including geographic information, age group and race. Personal customer information will be excluded. To date, 13 pharmaceutical companies use R(x)eal Time (Fasig, Providence Journal, 7/31).
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