Express Scripts Holding Co.’s chief executive said he’s open toa deal with a health insurer or partnering with Amazon.com Inc.

CEO Tim Wentworth’s pharmacy benefits company has been batteredby departing clients and the vague specter of Amazon’s entry into the drug business.

If a major insurer was interested in a deal, “I would be open toit,” Wentworth said on the sidelines of a conference in NewYork sponsored by Forbes. “We don’t need to sell to be verysuccessful in the future, but we are always open to others who mayall of sudden conclude they want what we have."

He said the company isn’t actively seeking a large deal orsale.

Express Scripts was up 1.3 percent to $63.70 at 9:44 a.m. in NewYork. The company’s stock is down 7.9 percent this year after itsbiggest client, insurer Anthem Inc., said it would end its relationship with the pharmacy benefitmanager over a dispute about drug prices and rebates.

Health-care companies and investors have beengrappling with what would happen if Amazon used its substantialmight to enter the drug distribution, benefits or retail business.The online retailer has made no clear moves to do so, so far, andhasn’t commented publicly on its intentions.

“I am not so sure Amazon gets in in the end,” Wentworth said. “Iam sure they are looking at it, they must be.”

Express Scripts contracts with employers and insurers toadminister drug benefits for millions of Americans. It’s notattached to a retail drugstore or major insurer, as rivalsCVS Health Corp. and UnitedHealth GroupInc. are.

Wentworth said the company’s independent model could benefit ifa reported deal between CVS and insurer AetnaInc. is finalized, and if Amazon.com entered the pharmacy market,as the company would able to capitalize on the shift in themarket.

“The disruption is an opportunity,” said Wentworth. CVS andAetna haven’t confirmed their deal talks.

Express Scripts, for example, could add Amazon as part of itspharmacy network, he said. It could also work with the retailer togive cash-paying patients access to rebates from drugmakers, amarket he said has been “fairly poorly served up until now.”

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