Prime Therapeutics Names Mostafa Kamal President and CEO

Mostafa Kamal

Prime Therapeutics has announced that Mostafa Kamal, the chief executive officer of Magellan Rx Management, the specialty drug company that Prime purchased last year for $1.35 billion, will succeed Ken Paulus as president and CEO.

"Mostafa's vision for what we can become is inspiring and bold," Maurice Smith, Prime's board chairman, said in a press release. "As Prime seeks to reimagine pharmacy benefit management, he is the right person to build on the strong foundation Ken leaves as he retires."

Kamal is taking the reins at Prime as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have come under increasing scrutiny. The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into the industry, and several bills have been introduced in Congress that would increase regulation and oversight of PBMs. In addition, many states have passed laws curbing PBM practices, such as spread pricing.

Prime, which is owned by 19 Blues plans, is not among the “big three” PBMs — Optum Rx, CVS Caremark and Express Scripts — that dominant the industry and have received most of attention from lawmakers. However, Prime entered into a three-year collaborative agreement with Express Scripts in 2019, shortly after Paulus took over the leadership role. A company spokesperson said that Prime has renewed the Express Scripts collaboration.

"I leave Prime in capable hands," Paulus said in the company press release about Kamal’s promotion. “Leading this company for the past four years has been a true privilege. I’m proud of the work we have done together to provide the kind of care we’d want for our loved ones. I know Prime will continue to thrive under Mostafa’s leadership.”

The company’s announcement quotes Kamal as saying that the newly combined organization (of Prime with Magellan) “has the right solutions, scale and know-how to be a powerful player in this market.”

Prior to Magellan, Kamal worked for Medco Health Solutions, which was acquired by Express Scripts in 2011, and for Hertz, according to his LinkedIn page. He has bachelor's degree from Rutgers University, majoring in business economics, says his LinkedIn page.

This story first appeared on Managed Healthcare Executive.