'They're the Backbone:' Walgreens Says Using Robots to Fill Prescriptions Helped It Save $500 Million. Here's How.

A robot, not a human pharmacist, may be filling your prescription at Walgreens. And there's about to be a lot more of them.

Walgreens told CNBC on Sunday that it wants to have more of its pharmacies send prescriptions to one of its 11 micro-fulfillment centers, or hubs that use robotic technology to fill patient prescriptions.

The goal is to have the facilities handle prescriptions for 5,000 pharmacies before the year ends, up from 4,800 stores in February and 4,300 stores in October 2023.

As of February, the centers took care of 40% of prescriptions for supported pharmacies, amounting to 16 million orders filled each month.

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The move to expand automation arrives as Walgreens readies itself to go private in a $10 billion deal. The drugstore chain announced in March that it had agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, with the deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year.

How does a micro-fulfillment center work?

When a Walgreens pharmacy supported by a center receives a prescription order, the system decides if it should be filled by pharmacists at that location or sent to the center. The decision often comes down to timeliness: Centers usually handle refills that don't require immediate pickup.

The facilities then use robots, conveyor belts, and scanners to fill prescriptions accurately. While pharmacists fill prescriptions by hand at stores, robots dispense prescriptions down a carefully managed assembly line at centers.

There is still some human involvement at the facilities, though. A team of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians works behind the scenes at the centers to ensure that the right pills reach the correct bottles.

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Robotic centers drive cost savings for Walgreens

The micro-fulfillment facilities have had a noticeable impact on Walgreens since the first one opened in early 2021. Kayla Heffington, Walgreens' pharmacy vice president, told CNBC that the centers have helped Walgreens save $500 million to date and allowed its pharmacists to spend more time with patients. She said that the centers allowed Walgreens to improve prescription volume by 126% year-over-year, while simultaneously bringing down costs by close to 13%.

Walgreens is now filling more than 170 million prescriptions per year, with the goal of raising that total to 180 million or higher with the help of the centers, she stated.

Rick Gates, Walgreens' chief pharmacy officer, added that the centers give Walgreens "a lot more flexibility to bring down costs."

"Right now, they're the backbone to really help us offset some of the workload in our stores," Gates told CNBC.

He noted that the facilities give Walgreens an advantage over independent pharmacies and other rivals that lack robotic prescription fulfillment.

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Amazon Pharmacy has its own automated pharmacy fulfillment centers that aim to bring medications to customers in two days or less on average.

Companies like Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons each have micro-fulfillment centers that process items like groceries, but none have publicly disclosed prescription fulfillment centers.

CVS has also implemented automation in its supply chain, though not publicly for its pharmacies. At CVS's Lumberton, New Jersey, distribution center, 152 robots work together to process 1.9 million products per week.

Walgreens was the second biggest pharmacy in the U.S. by prescription drugs market share in 2024, right after CVS.