Tom Murphy AP Health Writer

CVS Health wants to do much more than fill your prescription or jab your arm with an annual flu shot. The second-largest U.S. drugstore chain is buying Aetna, the third-largest health insurer, in order to push much deeper into customer care. The evolution won’t happen overnight, but in time, shoppers may find more clinics in…

A CVS-Aetna combination could create a health colossus that can reach deeper into the average customer’s life to manage care and cut costs, according to analysts who follow the companies. Drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager CVS Health Corp. is in talks to buy the nation’s third-largest insurer, Aetna Inc., according to a report Thursday…

Gilead Sciences will pay $11.9 billion in cash to buy Kite Pharma and plant a stake in an emerging area of cancer treatments that train a patient’s immune cells to attack tumors. Kite’s portfolio of potential treatments includes one for the blood cancer lymphoma that could receive U.S. regulatory approval later this year. The Santa…

Johnson & Johnson edged above fourth-quarter profit expectations, helped by consumer goods and pharmaceutical growth, but the world’s biggest health care products company also gave Wall Street a softer-than-expected 2017 earnings forecast. The maker of Band-Aids and prescription drugs also said Tuesday it was taking another step in restructuring its medical device segment by shopping…

Johnson & Johnson edged Wall Street profit expectations for the fourth quarter but announced a lower-than-expected 2017 forecast and said it would start shopping its diabetes care businesses. Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that it would start seeking a possible sale, joint venture or operating partnerships for LifeScan Inc., Animas Corp. and Calibra Medical Inc.…

CVS is now selling a rival, generic version of Mylan’s EpiPen at about a sixth of its price, just months after the maker of the life-saving allergy treatment was eviscerated before Congress because of its soaring cost to consumers. The drugstore chain says it will charge $109.99 for a two-pack of the authorized generic version…

Walgreens Boots Alliance earnings topped $1 billion during the fourth quarter, easily surpassing analyst expectations, but the drugstore giant also announced a delay in closing its latest megadeal. The company said Thursday that it expects to wrap up its $9.4-billion purchase of rival Rite Aid Corp. early next year, rather than by the end of…

UnitedHealth Group hiked its 2016 earnings forecast again after its profit swelled 23 percent to nearly $2 billion in the third quarter, helped by gains both in and outside its core insurance business. The nation’s biggest health insurer now expects adjusted, full-year earnings of about $8 per share, up from its previous forecast of $7.80…

Pfizer will not split into two publicly traded companies, a decision that, at least for now, ends Wall Street speculation over the drugmaker’s future. The company said Monday it believes it is best positioned to maximize shareholder value in its current form, but it reserves the right to split in the future if the situation changes.…

Eli Lilly Chairman and CEO John C. Lechleiter will retire in December after leading the drugmaker through a challenging period in which it lost U.S. patent protection for several top-selling products. The Indianapolis company says the president of its bio-medicines business, David A. Ricks, will replace Lechleiter as CEO in January and become board chairman…