Pharmacy chain CVS Caremark Corp and pharmaceutical distributor Cardinal Health Inc on Tuesday announced a 10-year agreement to form the largest generic drug sourcing operation in the United States, the world's biggest generic drug market. The 50-50 joint venture, which combines the generic drug purchasing power of two of the largest companies in the market for the cheaper medicines, will be operational as soon as July 1, 2014. Under the agreement, Cardinal will pay CVS $25 million on a quarterly basis for the duration of the contract, with an estimated after-tax value to CVS of $435 million.
