Aetna Completes Purchase of Aetna Specialty Pharmacy; Purchase of portion from Priority Healthcare Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Express Scripts, Inc., gives Aetna 100 percent ownership.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced it has completed the transaction that gives it 100 percent ownership of Aetna Specialty Pharmacy, LLC, a joint venture it launched with Priority Healthcare Corporation last year to better serve Aetna members with conditions who need specialty pharmaceuticals. Priority Healthcare is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Express Scripts, Inc.

Aetna had owned 40 percent of the venture. It announced the purchase of the remaining 60 percent from Express Scripts, Inc. on Oct. 26, 2005. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, although Aetna has previously said the purchase price is not material to the company.

"We are very pleased to be able to complete this transaction," said Eric Elliott, head of Aetna Pharmacy Management (APM), which runs the business. "APM is stronger today because we now own a best-in-class operation that integrates medical and pharmacy benefits for our members with chronic conditions. Aetna Specialty Pharmacy increases our capacity to deliver industry-leading clinical management programs that help manage overall health care costs."

Aetna Specialty Pharmacy occupies a 63,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility in Orlando, Fla., and serves Aetna members with chronic conditions who suffer from diseases such as cancer, Crohn's Disease, cystic fibrosis, Gaucher's Disease, hemophilia, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, pulmonary hypertension, renal failure, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rheumatoid arthritis, organ transplants and anemia. Medications for these diseases are expensive, and administration of those medications requires intensive coordination.

As one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care benefits, Aetna puts information and helpful resources to work for its approximately 14.65 million medical members, 13.03 million dental members, 9.34 million pharmacy members and 13.68 million group insurance members to help them make better informed decisions about their health care and protect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provides easy access to cost-effective health care through a nationwide network of more than 700,000 health care professionals, including over 418,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 4,231 hospitals. For more information, please visit. www.aetna.com (Figures as of September 30, 2005)