DOW JONES NEWSWIRES CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS) said Jon Roberts, chief operating officer of its pharmacy benefits management business, will become the unit's president Sept. 1 under its succession plans. Per Lofberg, the current PBM president, has extended his employment agreement through December 2013. After September, he will serve as the unit's chairman, overseeing strategy, new business development, and client-relationship management and retention. Roberts, 56, has spent 21 years with CVS Caremark and became executive vice president and chief operating officer for Caremark Pharmacy Services in 2010. CVS's pharmacy benefits management business suffered following the 2007 merger between the drugstore chain and the Caremark PBM company but has recently seen a bit of a resurgence. Lofberg, an industry veteran who was chairman of Medco when it was still owned by Merck & Co. (MRK), has been credited with some of the turnaround. Pharmacy benefit managers handle prescription-drug benefits and claims for employers and health-insurer clients, operate their own mail-order pharmacies, and increasingly offer services aimed at keeping patients compliant with their medications. CVS Caremark's fourth-quarter profit rose 3.7% as pharmacy services and retail revenue each grew, though results were tempered by weaker-than-expected holiday sales and a muted flu season. -By Melodie Warner, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2283; melodie.warner@dowjones.com
