McKesson announces purchase of Vantage and Biologics

McKesson Corp. announced this week that it has agreed to terms to buy Vantage Oncology LLC and Biologics Inc.

Vantage is a supplier of radiation and medical oncology, and integrated cancer care services. Biologics Inc. provides oncology pharmacy services.

The acquisition of Vantage and Biologics is priced at $1.2 billion and will be paid by McKesson with a mixture of cash and incremental debt. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of the 2017 fiscal year, at which point Vantage and Biologics will be absorbed by McKesson’s Specialty Health business.

McKesson sees the joint purchase as a way of growing its specialty pharmaceutical distribution scale, what it will be able to offer in pharmacies for oncology, solutions that will benefit its manufacturers and payers, and the range of oncology and practice management services accessible to its providers and patients on a community level.

By acquiring Vantage, McKesson will be increasing its range of radiation oncology services and management with the addition of 50 cancer centers spread across 13 states. The addition of Biologics will help McKesson reach new manufacturing partners in new ways and improve its proposed value to patients, providers and payers.