PrecisionRx Specialty Solutions Chosen as a Distributor for Letairis

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- WellPoint, Inc., (NYSE: WLP) , the nation's largest health benefits company, today announced that its wholly owned specialty pharmacy, PrecisionRx Specialty Solutions, has been selected by Gilead Sciences as one of eight pharmacies in the United States to participate in the limited distribution program for Letairis, an oral drug that treats a potentially lethal form of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). PrecisionRx Specialty Solutions was chosen as a distributor for the drug because of its capacity to provide "high touch" specialized support for people with complex, chronic diseases.

"We were delighted with Gilead's decision to include PrecisionRx Specialty Solutions in their limited distribution channel," said Recie Bomar, vice president for specialty pharmacy. "Letairis represents a significant advance in the treatment of this debilitating disease and it is our mission to help ensure our participants have access to such innovative therapies. We have developed a clinical care management program for participants receiving this product so that they may get the best results from their treatment and improve their quality of life."

Letairis is an oral medication taken once daily to treat PAH, a disease marked by high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries in the lungs, causing the arteries to narrow and eventually become blocked. If left untreated, PAH can turn fatal within three years due to heart failure that can occur as a result of the disease. Compared to other PAH treatments, studies administered by Gilead have found Letairis has the lowest incidence of liver toxicity.

PrecisionRx Specialty Solutions is an extensive support program that promotes collaboration between physicians and pharmacists to effectively manage a participant's medication and condition. The medications handled by PrecisionRx are typically used for treating chronic diseases and often must be delivered through injection or infusion, requiring special handling including temperature-moderating containers.

More information about the benefits and services provided by PrecisionRx Specialty Solutions is available at www.precisionrxspecialtysolutions.com.

About WellPoint, Inc.

WellPoint's mission is to improve the lives of the people it serves and the health of its communities. WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health benefits company in terms of commercial membership in the United States. Through its nationwide networks, the company delivers a number of leading health benefit solutions through a broad portfolio of integrated health care plans and related services, along with a wide range of specialty products such as life and disability insurance benefits, pharmacy benefit management, dental, vision, behavioral health benefit services, as well as long term care insurance and flexible spending accounts. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, WellPoint is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as Empire Blue Cross or Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com.