Dive Brief:
- Cencora has agreed to acquire EyeSouth Partners’ retina business for $1.1 billion as the drug distributor continues to expand its specialty medical arm.
- Once the transaction closes, EyeSouth’s physicians will join Cencora’s management services organization Retina Consultants of America, according to the Monday announcement.
- Cencora expects the deal to close after the company’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 and be slightly accretive to Cencora’s earnings.
Dive Insight:
The acquisition represents another inroad from Cencora into specialty support assets. The drug distributor has been building up the higher margin business line, arguing the investments are worthwhile to boost its core business.
That includes doubling down on ophthalmology, after Cencora acquired Retina Consultants of America, or RCA, early last year for more than $4 billion.
The acquisition seems to have paid off. Analysts say the unit has performed well since, with strong volumes and contributions from biosimilars like those approved by regulators in 2024 to treat diabetic retinopathy and some types of macular degeneration.
The latest acquisition pushes Cencora deeper into the ophthalmology market, which could expose the company to more profit opportunities from biosimilar launches, J.P. Morgan analyst Lisa Gill said in a Monday research note. The acquisition should also increase RCA’s scale in a fragmented retina market, Gill said.
Monday’s announcement is the third large acquisition of a retina MSO by a drug distributor in the last two years, following Cencora’s acquisition of RCA and McKesson’s buy of PRISM Vision Holdings in early 2025 for $850 million.
