MHS Medcohealth Solutions Common Stock

Major pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions (MHS) and diagnostic testing company Quest Diagnostics’ (DGX) are scheduled to publish the final result of their joint study, Additional KIF6 Risk Offers Better Adherence to Statins (AKROBATS), on March 26, 2012 at the 61st Annual Scientific Session & Expo of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago.

This collaborative AKROBATS study conducted by Quest and Medco’s subsidiary Medco Research Institute is a non-randomized intervention trial. The effect of kinesin-like protein 6 gene(KIF6) testing was evaluated in patients who were then provided the written results within 30 days of commencement of statin therapy. The results were communicated before the statin prescription refill.

The tested patients were evaluated against the non-tested control patients with respect to age, gender, statin prescription distribution channel and the number of chronic medications at the time of statin initiation. Quest’s advanced cardiovascular disease testing unit Berkeley HeartLab presently offers a laboratory-developed test for the KIF6 gene variant.

This new study is expected to be beneficial in effectively bringing down the cost of medication amid an inflationary situation as well as increasing greater efficiencies for improved patient outcomes.

An aging population coupled with higher frequency of chronic diseases continues to drive demand and add to the escalating cost of new research and drug therapies. As a result, we expect the outlook for the Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) industry to remain positive. With fiscal 2011 revenue of $70 billion and over 20,000 workers serving a wide range of public and private sector clients, Medco currently holds the 34^th position on the 2011 Fortune 500 list.   

Quest, on the other hand, performs several types of tests including routine (bodily health tests like blood cell count, HIV, and pregnancy), anatomic pathology, genebased and esoteric testing (including genetics, immunology, oncology and serology, requiring sophisticated technology) and drugs-of-abuse testing, which accounted for approximately 51%, 13%, 25% and 2%, respectively, of the total revenue in 2011.

In addition, the company generated 9% of its revenues in 2011 from non-clinical testing businesses, which include risk assessment services for the life insurance industry, clinical trials testing, diagnostic products and healthcare information technology.

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on Quest and Medco. Both the stocks retain Zacks #3 Rank (short-term ‘Hold’ rating).

 
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