Premier Inc. Partners with Pensiamo Inc. and UPMC to Launch AI-Powered Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Solution

CognitiveRx™ uses machine learning to monitor market demand
signals, predict shortage risk and recommend optimal inventory levels

PITTSBURGH & CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–$PINC #drugcosts–Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a healthcare improvement company, and
Pensiamo Inc., a cognitive
supply chain company, have partnered to launch a new pharmaceutical
supply chain solution that was co-developed with UPMC, a world-renowned
healthcare provider and insurer.

CognitiveRx™ is a comprehensive pharmaceutical supply chain solution
that predicts, manages and solves for challenges related to drug
shortages, inflation, declining reimbursement and other factors
impacting the life sciences supply chain. UPMC, which owns Pensiamo,
will be the first to implement CognitiveRx to more precisely monitor
market demand signals, predict shortage risk and recommend inventory
levels that support its ability to insulate patient care from supply
disruption.

“CognitiveRx provides access to market exclusive recommendations that
predict drug supply disruption risk, and support the rapid
identification of clinical, purchasing and inventory solutions,” said
Jim Szilagy, President and CEO of Pensiamo and Chief Supply Chain
Officer for UPMC. “The teams at Pensiamo and UPMC have developed a truly
innovative tool, and we are excited to partner with Premier to launch
it. We believe it will help UPMC and other healthcare organizations
advance cost management and drug shortage mitigation strategies to
further bend the cost curve.”

Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), CognitiveRx uses machine
learning to bring speed and reliability to the process of controlling
and reducing pharmaceutical costs. Specifically, CognitiveRx sends
real-time “buy-right” signals to direct procurement activities and
recommend formulary management strategies for buying the most
advantageous products. By replacing manual data manipulation and
integrating siloed data sources, the solution enables rapid insights on
price increase predictions, egregious price changes and margin capture
opportunities.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Pensiamo and UPMC on the launch
of CognitiveRx,” said David A. Hargraves, Senior Vice President of
Supply Chain at Premier. “This collaboration is an excellent complement
to Premier’s market-leading suite of supply chain technologies that are
designed to better inform overall contracting and sourcing processes. As
more health systems adopt it, we will continue to improve pharmaceutical
costs and ensure patients across the country have the medication they
need when they need it.”

As part of the partnership, Premier will offer CognitiveRx to hospitals
and health systems and provide market exclusive purchasing
recommendations to maximize high volume opportunities. CognitiveRx is
supported by a specialized team of advanced data managers, data
scientists and pharmacy professionals who automate the intake and review
of purchase data, garner insights, generate machine learning algorithms
and develop AI models to enable an optimal pharmacy supply chain
strategy.

The financial terms of this agreement are not being disclosed.

Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this release that are not statements of historical
or current facts, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements
of Premier to be materially different from historical results or from
any future results or projections expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements. In addition to statements
that explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged
to consider statements in the conditional or future tenses or that
include terms such as “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “estimates,”
“intends,” “anticipates” or “plans” to be uncertain and forward-looking.
Forward-looking statements may include comments as to Premier’s beliefs
and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business
and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside
Premier’s control. More information on potential factors that could
affect Premier’s financial results is included from time to time in the
“Forward-Looking Statements,” “Risk Factors” and “Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations” sections of Premier’s periodic and current filings with the
SEC and available on Premier’s website at investors.premierinc.com.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made.
Premier undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise that occur after that date.

About Pensiamo

Pensiamo, a cognitive supply chain company, combines supply chain
expertise, artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced
analytics capabilities to provide bottom line value to healthcare
organizations. By harnessing the power of data, Pensiamo better informs
decisions related to supplier and product selection and usage so that
healthcare providers can succeed in an industry rapidly transitioning to
value-based care. Launched in 2016, Pensiamo is an independent,
for-profit enterprise with UPMC, a world-renowned healthcare provider
and insurer, as its founding client.

About UPMC

A $20 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is
inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable
care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC
integrates 87,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors’ offices and
outpatient sites, and a 3.5 million-member Insurance Services Division,
the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent
fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.2 billion in benefits to its
communities, including more care to the region’s most vulnerable
citizens than any other health care institution, and paid $587 million
in federal, state and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with
the University
of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its
clinical, managerial and technological skills worldwide through its
innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC
International. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks
UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside on its annual Honor Roll of America’s Best
Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.

About Premier Inc.

Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company,
uniting an alliance of more than 4,000 U.S. hospitals and health systems
and approximately 165,000 other providers and organizations to transform
healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply
chain solutions, and consulting and other services, Premier enables
better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier plays a critical role
in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members
to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way
care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte,
N.C., Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare.
Please visit Premier’s news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com;
as well as Twitter,
Facebook,
LinkedIn,
YouTube,
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and Premier’s
blog for more information about the company.

Contacts

Morgan Guthrie, Premier Inc.; [email protected];
212.901.1356
Wendy Zellner, UPMC; [email protected];
412.586.9777