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To: Randy Ellingson who wrote (48178)	3/31/1999 9:10:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

FOCUS-Express Scripts surges on Web site plan By Gregory Crawford CHICAGO, March 30 (Reuters) - After laying plans to build an online drugstore, Express Scripts Inc. <ESRX.O> saw its stock surge on Tuesday, as investors continued to be enamored with anything and everything Internet. After the stock market closed Monday, the St. Louis-based pharmacy benefits management (PBM) firm said it would launch two Web sites to sell drugs and provide information. By Tuesday afternoon, the St. Louis company's stock was up 22 percent, trading at $91, ahead $16.94, but off its best level of the day, a record high $105.50. "Online drugstores are the hot thing now and you're seeing them pop up," said Gregory Simpson, an analyst who follows Express Scripts for A.G. Edwards. "There are people out there that invest in Internet stocks who don't know what a PBM is." Express Scripts said that in the second quarter it would begin selling drugs over the Internet at www.YourPharmacy.com and launch a companion Web site, www.DrugDigest.org, providing consumer drug information. The Web sites will tap into the company's customer base of more than 36.5 million people, which stems from its relationships with major employers and managed care organizations. "If I were going to start up an online drugstore, it would be awfully nice to have 40 to 50 million clients or customers that are kind of captive," Simpson said, adding that the venture is likely to contribute to Express Scripts' profits. In a statement Monday, Greg Rotenberg, president of the as-yet-unnamed subsidiary Express Scripts created to launch and manage the Web sites, said the company would leverage its relationship with Express Scripts and many of the nation's leading employers and managed care organizations to have a direct dialogue with its target customers. Simpson said Express Scripts would have an advantage over start-up online drugstores like Drugstore.com, which is 46 percent owned by cyber bookstore Amazon.com Inc. <AMZN.O>, and PlanetRx, which launched earlier this month. "Express Scripts did about $8 million mail order prescriptions last year, so they not only know how to do it, but they've got the facility and the capacity," he said. "That's why you're seeing the reaction" in the stock, he added. "When you look at what it's going to take to be successful in this business, a PBM like Express Scripts doing this -- I think the odds of success are just tremendously greater."