Premier Inc. Creates Oncology-Focused Purchasing Alliance with 20 Leading Cancer Providers to Source Branded Cancer Drugs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading healthcare improvement company, today debuted Intersectta®, a new oncology-focused group purchasing organization (GPO) to source cancer and other specialty drugs. Through this program, Premier plans to strike innovative new partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, putting branded products on negotiated contracts at competitive prices. In addition, Premier will provide participants access to robust market data to better understand real-world prescribing, utilization and off-label trends.

Guided by an Advisory Committee composed of 20 of the nation’s largest and most prestigious health system providers representing more than 385 individual hospitals providing care to nearly 8 million patients living with cancer, Intersectta will initially focus on a targeted pipeline of nearly 70 oncology drugs that are most commonly used in cancer care.

“Because Premier can provide invaluable market intelligence to our partners, we are creating a win-win solution that will deliver competitively priced products to our health system members, as well as real-world data that improves pharmaceutical companies’ research and development processes and the overall quality of cancer patient care,” said Premier President Michael J. Alkire. “Considering that approximately 17 million people in the United States are living with cancer, with about 2 million new cases diagnosed every year, this is a major therapeutic area that will greatly benefit from partnership and innovation.”

Current U.S. spending on oncology drugs tops $42 billion a year, and it is the top ranked area of specialty drug spend due to medical advancements, increased personalization of treatment and changes in the duration of therapies.

“Intersectta is coming along at a very advantageous time, especially as we deal with unprecedented financial and operational challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jack Kolosky, Moffitt Cancer Center’s COO and Hospital President. “We are looking forward to becoming one of the inaugural participants in this first-of-its-kind sourcing initiative that will ultimately improve access and the quality of life-saving cancer care.”

Intersectta will report up into Premier’s Supply Chain Services business segment, led by Senior Vice President David A. Hargraves. Revenues from Intersectta are not expected to materially impact Premier financial results in the near term and will be factored into any future guidance expectations for FY21.