For McKesson, RxCrossroads will help it to capitalize on what the coming boom in the specialty pharma market that the company believes is on the horizon. In a post on its corporate website, McKesson cites a factoid published in Formulary in June 2013, stating that, somewhere between 2018 and 2020, "50% of all drugs sold in the United States are expected to be specialty pharmaceuticals, compared with 30% today." Of course, this deal comes on November 6, 2017, just 12 days after The Wall Street Journal announced that CVS was in talks to buy managed care giant Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) for more than $66 billion. At the time the news was published, speculation on the rationale for the acquisition focused on Amazon 's (NASDAQ: AMZN) rumored entry into the pharmacy benefits management (PBM) business. If that transaction does occur, CVS would gain millions of new members for its own PBM business, as well as more foot traffic through the front of its retail stores.