Express Scripts unveils plant [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Jun. 4--ST. LOUIS COUNTY -- Express Scripts Inc. cracked open the doors of its highly automated mail-order distribution plant, which has been touted as the sort of economic development the region desperately needs.

Under a veil of tight security, company officials staged an opening ceremony Thursday for what Express Scripts calls its Technology & Innovation Center. The facility utilizes a combination of robots and people to fill doctor's prescriptions.

The governor and a cavalcade of local, state and federal officials toured the new plant and delivered accolades about the fast-growing company and its high-volume pharmacy.

"Express Scripts stands as a symbol of the kind of innovations and transformation we are bringing to our health care system," said Rep. William Lacy Clay.

Gov. Jay Nixon praised Express Scripts as one of Missouri's most successful companies and called its new distribution plant "an exciting milestone for St. Louis County." Express Scripts is the nation's third largest pharmacy benefits manager.

Nixon, who said that Express Scripts' new facility will bring "next-generation jobs" to the region, praised the public-private partnership that led to building the mail-order plant on raw land in the NorthPark business park near the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus.

State and local officials offered $7 million in economic incentives to persuade the company to build here.

As the governor and other dignitaries looked on, company officials raised a shade in a conference room to reveal the main floor of the 200,000-square-foot facility, which was designed to dispense, pack and ship 110,000 prescriptions a day.

Escorted guests -- instructed to ditch their cameras, cell phones and tape recorders -- were treated to a view of scanners, robotic arms, sorting machines, ultrasonic sensors, scales and conveyor belts. The company's most valuable proprietary components were shielded from view.

"It's more than a pharmacy," said George Paz, Express Scripts' chief executive. He noted that the facility includes a "patient contact center" that provides consumers with telephone access to trained pharmacists.

Paz also stressed that the center has a laboratory that is studying consumer behavior "to improve the health outcomes of Americans while at the same time driving down costs."

The mail-order pharmacy handles about 7,000 different types of drugs, and layers of redundancy are built into the system for patient safety.

"It's second to none. It really is the next generation in pharmacy design," said Charlie Eller, vice president of pharmacy technology.

Following computer-generated instructions, pill vials are automatically loaded onto pallets, filled with pills and labeled. For safety and legal reasons, an electronic image is created of the inside and outside of each bottle. The vials are then packed and labeled for shipping.

Licensed pharmacists and technicians oversee the process.

Refrigerated medicines such as insulin and human growth hormone are handled in a special area. Narcotics and other controlled substances are processed in a secure "cage" where access is restricted to select employees. Less than 5 percent of the pill volume is processed manually, mostly for rarely used medicines.

Express Scripts has invested heavily in its mail-order division and operates smaller mail-order facilities in Tempe, Ariz., and Ben Salem, Pa. Some Wall Street analysts have projected only limited growth for its mail-order business. Express Scripts officials offered a different perspective.

"With health care reform and the need to hold costs down, our clients have more incentive to use mail than they ever have," Eller said. "Mail is the largest savings to our clients."

The facility has been operating for months, gradually increasing its production level. At full capacity, it will be able to process 500,000 pills an hour, company officials said.

Company officials would not disclose the price of the new facility, but a contractor who worked on the project said the cost easily exceeded $30 million and may be closer to $50 million.

While some critics have decried the extent of incentives and tax breaks given to Express Scripts, state House Speaker Ron Richards said the enticements were "not a giveaway."

Richards said he and other legislators are already working on "Phase 3" of Express Scripts' planned expansion in the St. Louis area but declined to describe those plans.

"We have nothing to announce at this time," said Express Scripts spokesman Thom Gross.

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