High Tech Hits the Neighborhood Drug Store; Bergen Brunswig's GNP Network Moves Into The Information Age With GNP Link, myGNP.com and InterLinx.

ORANGE, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--July 22, 1999--

To position its Good Neighbor Pharmacy (GNP)(R) network of independent retailers to compete profitably in the e-commerce arena, Bergen Brunswig Drug Company, a subsidiary of Bergen Brunswig Corporation (NYSE:BBC), is focusing this week on a series of Internet-based solutions designed to promote patient care, reduce costs and maximize revenues.

The concept, introduced at Bergen's third annual Healthcare Congress and Manufacturers' Exposition in Las Vegas, integrates the time management, Internet capability and productivity enhancement of its GNP-Link(TM) initiative; the e-commerce capabilities of myGNP.com(TM); and the next-generation catalog and order entry technology of InterLinx(TM) to give GNP pharmacists a leading edge in the complex age of information.

"These are the progressive kinds of programs that showcase Bergen's continuing commitment to independent pharmacy," said David Neu, executive vice president, sales and marketing for Bergen Brunswig Drug Company. "They meet the needs of contemporary patients, create excitement in the drug store business and put our retail customers right in the forefront of profitable, next-generation pharmacy."

GNP-Link, the host system at the heart of Bergen's Internet strategy, connects GNP retailers to the latest advances in pharmacy management, automation and e-commerce opportunity. Armed with the most current information databases and analysis, GNP-Link teams with the industry-leading PDX pharmacy system to offer GNP retailers value-added components ranging from accounts payable software to data analysis to confidential access to prescription records. Pharmacists may also access Care Rx(TM), a Windows-based solution for disease state management and reimbursement; and QuickScript(TM), an automated dispensing system that reduces errors, lowers dispensing costs and frees the pharmacist from dispensing duties to focus on more lucrative tasks including healthcare management.

With myGNP.com, pharmacists will have the opportunity to build an Internet presence with a customized website home page, process prescription refills via the GNP-Link to the Internet, participate in direct-to-patient product shipment and build customer relationships by drawing attention to their stores' unique sales events and programs. They will also be able to network with other pharmacies and offer their patients access to the most current medical data available as well as private interaction with a pharmacist to answer their medical questions.

InterLinx, the third component of Bergen's Internet-based program, will provide an advanced Catalog, Order Entry and Reporting System that streamlines management operations with acquisition pricing, instantaneous order confirmation, on-line substitution capability and 24 months worth of customizable reporting and purchase history at the lightening-quick click of a mouse.

Demonstrations of Bergen's web-based technology solutions will be available to Healthcare Congress attendees through July 25.

Bergen Brunswig Corporation, a Fortune 200 Company with annualized revenues of $17 billion (excludes bulk shipments to customers' warehouses), is one of the nation's leading supply channel management companies, providing pharmaceuticals, medical-surgical and specialty products as well as information management solutions and outsourcing services designed to improve cost-effectiveness and increase value for customers, patients and manufacturers across the entire healthcare spectrum. Additionally, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, PharMerica, Bergen serves approximately 500,000 patients in long-term care and alternate site settings. Bergen also develops disease-specific treatment protocols and pharmacoeconomic initiatives to assist in the reduction of overall healthcare costs while improving disease management and outcomes.

Certain of the information set forth in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied. Such statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate" or "continue" or the negatives or other variations thereof or other similar terminology. Such risks and uncertainties include the risks described in exhibit 99 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1999 and in other reports and exhibits filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bergen Brunswig press releases are available on the company's website at www.bergenbrunswig.com.