Healthcare deals galore: Amazon, Kite, and Optum close major acquisitions

Amazon CEO Andy Jassey tweeted Tuesday morning that the One Medical deal seeks to make quality healthcare less “difficult and inconvenient” for patients to access.

Jack O'Brien

February 22, 2023

12:47 pm

Source: Getty Images.

Three major healthcare deals closed Tuesday as Amazon completed its nearly $4 billion deal for One Medical, Gilead’s Kite finished its acquisition of Tmunity Therapeutics and UnitedHealth Group’s Optum closed its $5.4 billion deal for LHC Group.

First announced in July, Amazon made a splash by acquiring One Medical, a San Francisco-based primary care provider, in yet another significant healthcare play by the tech giant. As part of the deal, Amir Dan Rubin will remain as CEO of One Medical.

Following the One Medical deal, Amazon made a number of healthcare announcements. The company launched Amazon Clinic, a virtual care platform connecting patients to providers, folded Amazon Care following its debut in 2019 and introduced RxPass, a $5-per-month subscription service to have generic drugs delivered to Prime members for free.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassey tweeted Tuesday morning that the deal seeks to make quality healthcare less “difficult and inconvenient” for patients to access.

Getting great health care is often too difficult and inconvenient. Today, we’re excited to announce that @OneMedical has joined Amazon and our mission to make it dramatically easier for customers to get what they need to stay healthy. https://t.co/IoHWxEZrJY pic.twitter.com/d5IeMZjkWm
— Andy Jassy (@ajassy) February 22, 2023

“If you need a specialist, One Medical works closely with lots of hospital systems and can help you get a referral and an appointment quickly,” Jassey wrote in a public letter to Amazon customers. “One Medical works with most insurance providers, and while you can of course get your prescription filled anywhere that’s convenient for you, you can also choose to have it delivered to your door by Amazon Pharmacy. This is how primary care should work.”

Meanwhile, Kite finished its acquisition of Tmunity in an effort to expand its pipeline with the biotech’s next-generation CAR T therapies and technologies.

The transaction was first announced at the end of 2022 and provides Kite with Tmunity’s pre-clinical and clinical programs as well as its “armored” CAR T technology platform. Additionally, Kite will secure a strategic research and licensing agreement with the University of Pennsylvania.

Kite also closed the deal days after CEO Christi Shaw announced she would leave the company following four years at the helm.

In addition to these two deals, UnitedHealth Group’s $5.4 billion acquisition of LHC Group closed, according to the latter’s most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Per terms of the transaction, LHC Group becomes a part of Optum and bolsters the company’s efforts to deliver high-quality home care to patients.