Abarca and LucyRx – two privately held independent pharmacy benefit management companies – have agreed to merge as lawmakers, regulators and the general public seek better prices on their prescription drugs. The combination announced Wednesday, June 17, 2026, of Abarca and LucyRx will create a pharmacy benefits management business that will serve more than 9 million customers across the U.S. In this photo, Abarca CEO Jason Borschow speaks about the “future of pharmacy” Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 at the annual Forbes Healthcare in New York Laoneng Summit.
Jamel Toppin
Abarca Health and LucyRx — two privately held independent pharmacy benefit management companies — have agreed to merge as an alternative to the nation’s largest PBMs and as the public seeks better prescription drug prices.
The combination of Abarca and LucyRx will create a pharmacy benefit management business serving more than 9 million plan members across the U.S. in a deal designed to “create the only modern, independent pharmacy benefit manager with the scale, technology and track record to reliably serve commercial and government clients of any size,” the companies announced Wednesday.
The Abarca-LucyRx deal will put the combined company the top 10 PBMs in terms of the number of administered prescriptions, but it is still far less than the three largest PBMs that control 80% of the US market. Those three are: CVS Health’s Caremark. Express Scripts, which is owned by Cigna. and OptumRx, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group.
“The market today doesn’t have many options,” said LucyRx CEO David Blair. “Now, we’re providing the market with a clear alternative to the traditional PBM model.”
Abarca and LucyRx executives say it will be a stronger combined business “for commercial and government scale,” while also bringing more competition to the market by operating more transparently since they are not owned by larger companies that also own health insurers, pharmacies or other medical care providers.
“They’re vertically integrated and have a lot of conflicts of interest,” Abarca CEO Jason Borschow said of the three biggest PBMs.
Pharmacy benefit managers work as intermediaries between insurers, pharmacies and drug manufacturers to negotiate drug prices and manage prescription benefits.
Lately, however, they’ve come under unprecedented scrutiny with nearly every state in the country, along with the US government, scrutinizing PBM business practices while transforming regulations and pushing for greater transparency. The big three PBMSs, in particular, have been subject to federal Federal Trade Commission survey in anticompetitive behavior that government lawyers say led to inflated drug prices. The companies have denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, pharmacy is the fastest growing component driving health costs for employers and employees.
“The timing is appropriate,” Abarca and LucyRx said in a joint statement. “The PBM market is at a tipping point shaped by a new regulatory paradigm, continued pressure from high-cost specialty drugs and GLP-1s, and customers demanding a different kind of PBM relationship—one that offers more flexibility, true accountability, and sustainable affordability. Employers, consumers, and healthcare providers deserve a better experience.”
The Abarca-LucyRx combination will put the companies in all 50 states once it closes with free business that currently has “zero overlap,” the companies said. LucyRx, which has approximately 1.6 million members, manages pharmacy benefits for more than 4,000 customers nationwide, including mid-sized employers and unions with approximately 400 to 500 employees, while Abarca’s customer base consists of approximately 7.5 million members through health plans and government health programs.
Both Abarca, which is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and LucyRx, which is based in Bethesda, Maryland, will retain their brands and operate as wholly-owned subsidiaries of a company called Healthcare Revolution Partners once the deal closes in the third quarter of this year, pending regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Leveraging our combined scale, technology and track record, we will accelerate the healthcare revolution that Abarca started more than 20 years ago,” said Blair. “Together, we will deliver a trusted operating foundation, personalized customer experiences powered by best-in-class technology, and overall care cost savings driven by putting patients first.”
Blair and Borschow will continue to serve as CEOs of their respective companies and will become co-chairmen of Healthcare Revolution Partners once the deal closes.
“LucyRx shares our vision to make healthcare more seamless and personalized for everyone,” said Borschow. “We look forward to leveraging LucyRx’s clinical capabilities, Connected Specialty Care Network and expertise serving employers and workgroups nationwide to deepen our service offerings and accelerate our entry into new market segments.”
Abarca made headlines two years ago when it was named a participating partner in the launch of Blue Shield of California’s drug benefit venture with Amazon Pharmacy. In what Blue Shield called the “Pharmacy Care Reimagined Initiative,” the venture officially launched last year.
When the venture was first announced in August 2024, it sent his stocks Owners of the nation’s largest drugstore managers are reeling after Blue Shield confirmed it was ditching CVS Health’s Caremark and going its own way. Other stocks also fell that day, including Cigna’s stock price and UnitedHealth Group’s stock.
