Pharma Pulse: CVS Health to Break in Two, Bayer Weighs MFN

Welcome to Pharma Pulse, a Pharmaceutical Commerce podcast bringing you the latest insights shaping patient access, regulatory policy and healthcare innovation.

First up, CVS Health plans to break itself in two. The company announced it intends to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies following a strategic review by its board.¹ The first, a healthcare solutions company that will keep the CVS Health name in the interim, combines Aetna, CVS Caremark, CVS Specialty, Oak Street Health and Signify Health. The second, CVS Pharmacy, takes roughly 9,000 retail pharmacies, mail pharmacy, MinuteClinic and the Health100 technology services business. Chairman and CEO David Joyner will lead the healthcare solutions company, and group president Prem Shah will become CEO of CVS Pharmacy. The structure keeps the PBM and specialty pharmacy alongside the insurer, while retail and mail move to a standalone company. CVS says the pharmacy company will pursue a wider set of partnerships across the healthcare system, including with payers, pharmacy benefit managers and manufacturers. The separation is expected to be completed in the first half of 2028 and is intended to be tax-free to CVS Health and its shareholders.¹ The news lands a month after Cardinal Health and McKesson moved to extend their CVS distribution deals through June 2032.

Why Is Bayer Weighing MFN?

Next, Bayer is still weighing MFN from the outside. In remarks accompanying the company’s third quarter results, chief financial officer Judith Hartmann said Bayer continues to evaluate what US Most-Favored-Nation policies may mean for its pricing and launch strategies.² Bayer has not signed an MFN agreement with the Trump administration, leaving it outside the 26 manufacturers in the program’s current roster. Hartmann added that US tariffs on patented pharmaceuticals are already factored into Bayer’s guidance for this year. The comments come as Bayer’s pharma business gains momentum. Year-to-date, Nubeqa is up 60% and Kerendia is up 76% on a currency- and portfolio-adjusted basis, and the company raised its full-year pharma adjusted EBITDA margin outlook to between 25% and 27%. Bayer also plans a new production facility in New Albany, Ohio, to support its oncology, cardiovascular and renal portfolio.²

Is Life Sciences Ready to Govern Agentic AI?

Lastly, a new report suggests life sciences companies are adopting AI faster than they can agree on how to govern it. ACTO, a Toronto-based company that builds AI agents and field excellence tools for life sciences customer-facing teams, released its Responsible AI in Life Sciences (RAIL) Report 2026. The report draws on eight executive roundtables with more than 80 participants and a survey of 135 leaders in customer-facing roles across pharma, biotech and medical device companies.³ While 64% of leaders say their organizations have an AI governance process established or in development, 58% say the industry lacks clear standards for responsible AI, and 54% remain concerned about how AI is being used within their own organizations. Nearly eight in 10 agree AI risk and ROI should be measured against how people perform the work today. ACTO proposes a RAIL Score that grades agentic AI systems on six components: governance, security, testing and certification, human centricity, value creation and orchestration. The complimentary report also includes a self-grading scorecard, a vendor evaluation checklist, an AI agent job description template and a 90-day launch checklist.³

That’s it for this episode of Pharma Pulse. For more insights on trends transforming pharmaceutical access, visit pharmaceuticalcommerce.com. Thanks for listening, until next time, stay well and stay informed.

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References

1. CVS Health. “CVS Health announces intent to create two distinct leaders in healthcare.” November 4, 2026. https://www.cvshealth.com/news/company-news/cvs-health-announces-intent-to-create-two-distinct-leaders-in-healthcare.html
2. Bayer. “Bayer Q3 Media Update: Address by Board of Management.” November 3, 2026. https://www.bayer.com/media/en-us/2026-q3-media-update-address-by-board-of-management/
3. ACTO. “Responsible AI in Life Sciences: RAIL Report 2026.” October 27, 2026. https://acto.com/research-reports/responsible-ai-life-sciences-rail-report-2026/