Morrison has launched Fillex, a national automated pharmacy fulfillment platform.
It aims at helping retailers and health systems scale prescription ecommerce and omnichannel operations without building their own centralized infrastructure.
Fillex will provide automated, centralized prescription fulfillment services to retail pharmacies, grocery chains, ecommerce providers and health systems, Morrison said. It did not disclose financial terms of the investment. It is funding the platform through Morrison Value Add II, the firm’s global middle-market infrastructure fund.
Why Morrison launched Fillex for pharmacy fulfillment
The launch comes as pharmacy operators face rising operating costs, labor shortages and pressure on reimbursement rates. At the same time, they’re managing growing volumes of online prescription refills, mail delivery and digital patient engagement.
Morrison said it designed Fillex to handle the fulfillment side of digital pharmacy orders, allowing operators to separate high-volume prescription processing from in-store dispensing and redirect pharmacy staff toward patient-facing clinical services.
The company will be led by CEO Dain Rusk, a longtime pharmacy executive who most recently served as vice president of pharmacy at Publix Super Markets. There, he oversaw pharmacy operations, central fill facilities and specialty pharmacy. Rusk previously served as group vice president of pharmacy operations at Albertsons Companies.
Morrison operating partner Marvin Richardson, who has more than 40 years of experience across health care and logistics, will serve as chair of Fillex’s board.
“Our mission at Fillex is to reduce the operational and capital burden on pharmacy providers so they can operate more efficiently and focus more time on patient care,” Rusk said in a statement.
As prescription ecommerce volumes increase, many pharmacy operators lack the scale or capital required to build automated central fill facilities that meet regulatory requirements and maintain accuracy at high volumes. Fillex is positioning itself as a shared, open-access infrastructure provider that supports multiple pharmacy brands and digital channels.
Morrison chief investment officer William Smales said advanced automation and AI-enabled fulfillment technologies have historically been out of reach for many pharmacy operators because of their cost and complexity.
Morrison manages more than $30 billion in assets globally and has built platform businesses across energy, renewables and essential infrastructure markets. Fillex represents the firm’s expansion into health care logistics and pharmacy ecommerce infrastructure.
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