OREANDA-NEWS. Omnicare Inc. (NYSE:OCR) and McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) announced the signing of an expanded agreement to include the sourcing and distribution of branded, specialty and generic pharmaceuticals. The new five year agreement, which extends through December 2019, creates efficiencies for both companies by leveraging the strength of Omnicare as the nation's largest institutional pharmacy and a leading specialty pharmaceutical services provider and McKesson as a global leader in pharmaceutical sourcing and supply chain management.

For over ten years, Omnicare has partnered with McKesson for the distribution of branded pharmaceuticals. As part of the expanded agreement, McKesson will now also assume responsibility for the sourcing and distribution of generic pharmaceuticals for Omnicare as part of McKesson's proprietary OneStop® generics program.

“Following a thorough review of our strategic sourcing alternatives, we determined an expanded partnership with McKesson provided the best pathway for our company amid the rapidly evolving pharmaceutical supply chain,” said Nitin Sahney, Omnicare's president and chief executive officer. “By leveraging McKesson's sourcing and distribution expertise across our significant scale, we are better positioned to optimize our core competency of providing high-quality complex patient care.”

“Omnicare has been a valued customer to McKesson for more than a decade, and I am very pleased with the expansion of our relationship,” said John H. Hammergren, chairman and chief executive officer, McKesson Corporation. “I am extremely proud of our proven global sourcing expertise, industry-leading service levels and strong operational excellence, and I appreciate the opportunity to deliver additional value for Omnicare through this expanded relationship.”

Omnicare noted that it believes the benefits of its new sourcing strategy will be a key driver in enabling it to generate a low double-digit adjusted cash EPS growth rate in 2015.

“We have made steady progress executing our multi-layered growth strategy, and are well positioned to continue generating favorable results for our shareholders,” concluded Mr. Sahney.