Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) has announced two definitive agreements totalling approximately $360 million in cash to expand its at-Home Solutions division.
The company is acquiring the Diabetes Health business of AdaptHealth Corp. (NASDAQ: AHCO) and Strive Medical, a multi-specialty supply provider focused on urology.
AdaptHealth’s Diabetes Health business serves more than 225,000 patients annually through a centralised, mail-order and direct-to-patient model.
Its product range includes continuous glucose monitors and a broader suite of supplies used for ongoing diabetes management.
Strive Medical will be acquired in its entirety, adding further scale to Cardinal’s growing home care platform.
Together, the two deals add more than 245,000 patients to Cardinal Health’s at-Home Solutions network.
The company expects both acquisitions to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share within the first 12 months following close.
CEO Jason Hollar said: “These strategic transactions build on the synergies created by our recent investments in home care.”
Separately, President Donald J. Trump has announced a phased tariff plan for imported generic drugs, ending the category’s longstanding exemption from his broader pharmaceutical trade agenda.
Under the plan, generic drugs imported into the United States will carry a 0% tariff during a two-year transition period beginning August 1, 2026.
The tariff would then rise to 100% for one year before climbing further to 200% thereafter, according to a Truth Social post from Trump.
Trump described the eventual levy as “a penalty” for companies that fail to establish domestic manufacturing capacity within the allotted timeframe.
The White House confirmed the policy will be implemented under Section 232 authority, which allows trade restrictions on national security grounds.
Patented and branded prescription drugs are not affected by the announced tariff structure.
Generic medicines account for more than 90% of all prescriptions written in the United States, making the policy’s downstream effects potentially significant.
India is expected to bear the heaviest impact, with its pharmaceutical companies supplying nearly 50% of all generic medicines consumed in America.
Indian pharmaceutical exports to the US totalled $10.5 billion in 2024-25, ranking the sector among the country’s top export categories.
Chinese firms dominate the upstream supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients, including widely used medicines such as amoxicillin and heparin.
Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation, questioned whether the tariffs would achieve their intended goal of reshoring production.
Elms noted that establishing pharmaceutical manufacturing inside the US is neither simple nor cheap, and that raw materials would largely continue to be sourced internationally.
“I am not sure that even a potential 200% tariff will change the fundamental math,” Elms said.