(Reuters) -Walgreens Boots Alliance does not plan to sell specialty pharmacy unit Shields Health Solutions at the time, the company CEO said at a conference on Monday.
Bloomberg News reported in January that Walgreens was exploring a sale of the unit.
"Shield is a terrific asset, and I love the fact that we've got it. And so from that standpoint, whatever you may have read, don't believe it. We are not announcing we're selling Shields," Walgreens CEO Timothy Wentworth said.
Shares of the U.S. pharmacy chain were down 2% in early trading.
Walgreens bought the remaining stake in Shields for $1.37 billion in 2022, after spending $970 million to increase its stake in the company to 71% in the prior year.
Specialty pharmacies are designed to deliver medications with unique handling, storage and distribution requirements, often for patients with complex conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Shinjini Ganguli)
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