Amazon Pharmacy Competition Is Overblown, Robbins Says at Sohn

(Bloomberg) -- Fears that Amazon.com Inc. will enter the pharmacy-benefits business are dramatically overblown, said Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital Management.

Robbins used the Sohn Conference in New York to reiterate his pitches on McKesson Corp., CVS Health Corp. and Express Scripts Holding Co., saying that competition from Amazon is unlikely to materialize. He sees a 96 percent upside in CVS after its merger with Aetna Inc.

Amazon doesn’t do firearms, doesn’t do tobacco, doesn’t do alcohol, because these are highly regulated businesses and have too high risk for their reward, said Robbins. Likewise, Amazon wouldn’t want to be involved in pharmaceuticals, he said.

--With assistance from Katia Porzecanski and Kristy Westgard

To contact the reporter on this story: Hema Parmar in New York at hparmar6@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Romaine Bostick at rbostick@bloomberg.net, Margaret Collins

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