WALGREENS

NEW YORK The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board welcomed a recommendation this week by the National Association of Board of Pharmacy that state boards of pharmacy require pharmacy technicians to have PTCB certification. The NABP will amend its Model Act to recommend that all boards of pharmacy require pharmacy tech certification by 2015.

NEW YORK Look for more changes in the look and feel of the Walgreens drug store.

It was easy to like Vern Brunner.

It could have been so much worse.

That conclusion, apparently, is what investors drew from Walgreens’ sales and earnings report for the second quarter ended Feb. 28. And it was enough to push the company’s stock price up sharply and burnish the investment outlook for other drug retailers: even Rite Aid’s stock price responded with a nice up-tick.

The retail pharmacy universe just got a little bit smaller.

Despite Drug Fair’s turnaround efforts in recent years, the regional player has fallen victim to the current economic crunch, filing for bankruptcy protection and agreeing to sell the majority of its assets to Walgreens.