Anthem's shares hit a new record on Jan. 30 after the health insurer released strong financial results and said it will debut its pharmacy benefits management unit ahead of schedule, according to CNBC.
Anthem will terminate its PBM agreement with Express Scripts in March instead of at the end of 2019 as expected. As a result, Anthem will accelerate the launch of its own PBM, called IngenioRx. Anthem still expects IngenioRx to generate gross annual savings of more than $4 billion.
"IngenioRx will improve our ability to integrate pharmacy benefits within our already strong medical and specialty platform driving greater value for the consumer and increasing transparency," Anthem CEO Gail Boudreaux said during the company's earnings conference call, as quoted by CNBC. She added, "To date, we have completed more than 15 months of preparation against our transition goal. The results of our operational testing have been very positive, giving us confidence in our readiness to launch."
Anthem's shares were up as much as 12.2 percent to a record high of $305.99 per share.