Value Drug history

The company continued to grow, and in 1941 moved to new 25’ x 100’ warehouse at 825 7th Avenue.

In 1970, there were 145 wholesale pharmaceutical distributors in the United States with 375 distribution centers.

By 1980, our sales were over $15,000,000.

As our competitors consolidated, Value Drug’s business continued to grow, and in 1986 required a new 60,000-square-foot warehouse located at One Golf View Drive in Altoona.

1990: The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) goes into effect, enacting a number of regulations, including no longer allowing individual states to maintain formularies.3 Up to this point, 13 states and the District of Columbia had their own formularies.3

More rapid F.D.A. approvals, fueled by new fees collected from pharmaceutical manufactures that began in 1992, also helped push new drugs to market.

1993: OBRA is updated and reverses the guidelines around state formularies, again allowing states to maintain formularies as long as they meet certain lawful requirements.

1995: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest health care system in the United States and establishes its own pharmacy benefit manager, the VHA Pharmacy Benefits Management Strategic Healthcare Group (VHA PBM).4,5

1997: The VHA PBM establishes a national formulary, which is credited with achieving manufacturer price reductions, decreasing drug spend, and encouraging providers to regularly prescribe selected medications.5

2003: Congress passes the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, creating the Medicare Part D retail prescription drug benefit.6 The included formulary system makes generic drugs the least expensive, which is expected to increase their consumption.6

And Medicare adopted a universal prescription drug benefit in 2006.

Our total sales by the end of 2008 was $732,053,320.

Then a slowdown lasted until about 2013, before spending shot up again.

By 2015, American annual spending on prescription drugs reached about $1,000 per person and 16.7 percent of overall personal health care spending.