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Major changes are coming to Eversana.

The pharma commercialization behemoth announced a merger on Tuesday with digital tech firm Waltz Health — forming a combined company that is valued at $6 billion.

Eversana did not disclose how much it paid for Waltz Health.

As a result of the merger, Waltz Health co-founder and CEO Mark Thierer was appointed CEO of Eversana. Thierer has also served as chairman of Eversana for the past eight years.

Former Eversana CEO Jim Lang is staying with the company, serving as a board member.

A healthcare industry veteran, Thierer previously helmed pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) Catamaran, which UnitedHealth Group acquired in 2015 for $13 billion. 

He subsequently served as CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s PBM subsidiary OptumRx until 2017. 

The two companies seek to complement the other’s capabilities and establish a direct connection between drugmakers to payers and patients.

In this case, the deal combines Eversana’s expertise in pharma commercialization and considerable scale with Waltz’s software-powered marketplaces.

Thierer says the goal is to “pop the gross-to-net bubble” that PBMs depend on by having drugmakers provide a straightforward net price. Eversana could then pass that price directly to patients and their plan sponsors—without rebates.

Eli Lilly is an example of Eversana’s leadership in direct-to-patient (DTP) programs, since the pharma giant teamed with the company to launch its LillyDirect offering last year. 

“We’re emerging as a brand new competitor — there is no one who looks like us and we are bringing the pharmaceutical industry through this huge footprint that Eversana has directly to payers,” he said. “We are working around the existing city hall and oligopoly that I helped build.”

Deconstructing the oligopoly

Tackling the exorbitant cost of healthcare in America is something that numerous prominent business leaders have attempted over the years — with mixed results.

In 2018, JP Morgan Chase, Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway created the joint venture Haven to tackle what Warren Buffett described as the “tapeworm” of medical costs. Three years later, the effort was defunct.

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has set out to lower prescription drug prices with his eponymous drug company and while he has made progress on that front, it hasn’t stemmed the larger tide at play.

The ultimate goal for Eversana, according to Thierer, is to drive change within the system’s middlemen that drive up costs and hamper efficiency.

He says achieving such an ambitious goal requires leaders who have an innate, deep-seeded knowledge of the industry and its problems.

Considering his prior tenure leading a PBM, working for the nation’s largest insurer and helming health tech companies, Thierer believes he is up to the task.

“If you hope to rewire the industry, you better know the base wiring,” he says.

He says the new-look Eversana will leverage deep relationships across all facets of the industry and significant transaction volume to align interests across manufacturers, pharmacies, payers and other stakeholders.

So far, the company has integrated pharmacies, specialty pharmacies and drugmakers handling over 200 million transactions.

In the absence of substantive federal policymaking around PBM reform, Thierer says the private sector has to step up to lower the price of prescription drugs.

He believes that by restructuring incentives and increasing competition through technology and marketplace dynamics, Eversana can drive down prices even if there aren’t any regulations emerging from Washington, D.C.

“Our goal is to lower the price of prescription drugs for every American,” he said. “People think that this is pie in the sky. This is what we’re doing and we are going to get it done.”

Effect on Eversana Intouch

AI remains central to Eversana’s strategy, with Thierer calling it the private equity-backed company’s value proposition to the market. 

He says AI is powering its price comparison engines, automating campaign management for branded drug launches and enabling faster, more efficient commercialization and marketing for pharma clients.

Many MM+M readers may see the headlines about the Eversana merger and wonder how it will impact Eversana Intouch.

Thierer asserts that the 2025 MM+M Agency 100 honoree will play a key role in next-generation campaign management, especially for its parent company’s DTC and direct-to-payer initiatives.

In 2024, the agency’s revenue dropped from $416 million to $380 million and its head count fell from 1,729 to 1,540 full-timers.

However, it has continued to prioritize its AI offerings for pharma clients — recently debuting its AI Agency tool in collaboration with Google Cloud as well as its Eversana Orchestrate MLR offering.

Thierer says the reimagined Eversana will utilize Eversana Intouch to assist clients with their advertising needs but stresses that it’s not just about launching campaigns faster.

Rather, he sees the organization’s role as tapping into DTP and direct-to-payer volume — scaling the company’s marketing, advertising and commercialization efforts as part of the new business model.

Thierer says the rollout will be targeted, starting with high-cost, high-profile drug classes like GLP-1s or migraine treatments. 

The revamped strategy, in Thierer’s opinion, will ultimately elevate Eversana Intouch above its medical marketing rivals.

“We think this will launch us to the top of the food chain relative to Real Chemistry and all the New York City brand companies who are out there pitching campaign management,” he says. “We think we’re going to have the industry’s leading campaign management process, and we’re going to tie it to DTP.”