BioScrip appoints Rick Smith as CEO, reports Q3 results

ELMSFORD, N.Y. Specialty pharmacy provider BioScrip has promoted its COO, the company said Tuesday.

BioScrip announced that COO Rick Smith was named CEO of the company, effective Jan. 1, replacing current CEO Richard Friedman. After stepping down, Friedman will serve as non-executive chairman of BioScrip’s board.

“Rick has made significant improvements to the operations of BioScrip — as demonstrated by the successful integration of the Critical Homecare Solutions acquisition — and now is the perfect time to transition leadership over to him,” Friedman said in a statement. “Having spent more than a decade at BioScrip in various executive management and board member roles, I’m proud to have been a part of the company’s transformation into a key player in the specialty pharmacy and home infusion industry.”

The company also reported third quarter 2010 results Tuesday, including $441.2 million in sales and $2 million in profits, with $329.3 million from pharmacy services. Total sales for the quarter increased by 32.3% compared with third quarter 2009, when they were $333.5 million. Sales from the acquisition of the pharmacy operations of Drugstore.com were $3.6 million, while sales from infusion and home health services were $111.8 million. Sales from Critical Homecare Solutions were $68 million.

“Although the fundamentals of BioScrip are strong and we remain excited about the company’s ongoing prospects, we recognize that we did not meet our guidance,” Smith said in reference to the earnings report. “In our infusion [and] home health segment, we were successful in posting solid organic growth, but revenue was slightly below our expectations.”