The head of Jean Coutu said Tuesday he’s not concerned that rival pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart has hired a CEO with deep knowledge of the Quebec market.
“Shoppers, we’ve known them for 42 years so I don’t see why a new CEO would change anything,” Francois Coutu said in an interview Tuesday after the company posted its second-quarter results.
Toronto-based Shoppers, the country’s largest pharmacy chain, announced Monday that Domenic Pilla will become its chief executive effective Nov. 1.
A McGill University graduate and member of the Quebec Order of Engineers, Pilla is currently president of McKesson Canada, a major player in Quebec’s pharmacy business.
Coutu said he’s known Pilla a long time from his role at McKesson Canada, which is an arm of a San Francisco-based company, but couldn’t forecast how his appointment could translate into any changes in the competition between two of the province’s largest pharmacy brands.
Shoppers spokeswoman Tammy Smitham said there’s no immediate plans to change the chain’s direction in Quebec.
“We do have a strong offer in Quebec already with 174 Pharmaprix stores,” Smitham said in an interview.
Pharmacy retailers constantly try to lure independent pharmacists to their fold in order to expand their networks and add patient files.
Coutu told analysts that pharmacist profits are being squeezed by new government rules limiting professional allowances paid by drug manufacturers. He said the financial hit may prompt independents to sell to retailers like Jean Coutu.
Lower generic drug prices continued to squeeze Jean Coutu’s results in the second quarter, even though its profit soared on the sale of a portion of its stake in U.S. pharmacy chain Rite-Aid.
