As Cencora Closes With OneOncology, Patton Says Terms Show “Trust”

From December’s announcement of plans to fully acquire OneOncology to yesterday’s closing, Cencora’s pace of bringing the physician-owned platform into the fold can only be described one way: accelerated.

Cencora took a 35% stake in OneOncology in April 2023, when it joined TPG to acquire the platform from General Atlantic in a deal valued at $2.1 billion.1 By December 15, 2025, when Cencora said it would speed up plans to acquire all outstanding equity interests, OneOncology was valued at $7.4 billion, with an equity value of $6 billion.2

Jeff Patton, MD | Image: OneOncology

That kind of growth makes investors move sooner rather than later, said Jeff Patton, MD, the CEO of OneOncology and former CEO of Tennessee Oncology, one of the platform’s founding practices. In an interview with The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) following the closing, Patton described the alignment OneOncology enjoys with Cencora, known largely as a drug wholesale and distribution company.

Moving the closing date from the original target, which had been the second quarter of 2026, makes sense when you’re ready to get started on the future, he said.

“We've been together with having them as a minority investor for two and a half years. It's clear we have mission and vision alignment. That’s the first, most important thing in any kind of partnership,” Patton said. “We are executing ahead of schedule, and so they were ready to move up the schedule so that we can start working on longer-term decisions and long-term investments.”

OneOncology emerged with the rise of value-based care to offer management services to community oncology practices, allowing them to stay independent by centralizing the technology, data analytics, group purchasing, and many marketing and human resources functions. OneOncology developed a research entity, called OneR, which is a site management organization that assists in conducting clinical trials.

The growth strategy and recent success of OneOncology will allow it to retain a measure of independence, Patton said. “We’re going to have a board that is between us and Cencora, which is very unusual for a publicly traded company,” he said. “It shows their trust in allowing us to be physician-centric and physician-focused. We’re not completely independent, but we’re as independent as we can be.”

Under terms announced in December, Cencora acquired shares in OneOncology from TPG and other shareholders for approximately $3.6 billion and retired its existing debt of $1.3 billion. In addition, according to the statement, OneOncology’s affiliated practices and management retain a minority stake in OneOncology.2

Achieving Synergy With Growth Strategy

OneOncology’s growth has occurred by not limiting itself to cancer. The 36 practice partners include both oncology and urology clinics as well as SunState Medical Specialists, previously Genesis USA of Florida, which provides urology, oncology, and surgery. Two GenesisCare clinics in South Carolina offering radiology were previously acquired by Coastal Cancer Center not long after the oncology practice became part of OneOncology.

OneOncology has rebranded the Florida clinics with 105 physicians and is guiding a financial turnaround after previous owners declared bankruptcy, Patton said. OneOncology has also affiliated with Cancer Specialists of North Florida, with 10 locations in the Jacksonville–St Augustine region.

“We’re using Florida as a microcosm of what we're trying to do nationally,” Patton said, highlighting investments in technology that will benefit both patients and caregivers—improving messaging and the process of making appointments. This will be aided by OneOncology’s acquisition of NavigatingCare, which Patton said is being enhanced with features that will be helpful to caregivers.

There is also greater synergy than ever across medical, radiation, and surgical oncology. Patton agreed that advances in neoadjuvant and perioperative treatments call for greater collaboration. And OneOncology has added practices with physicians who have quickly become leaders across the network, such as Todd Doyle, MD, as chief of radiation oncology.

“We’re acknowledging that the more people you have under one roof, the better to coordinate care,” Patton said. “If that includes surgical oncology for breast surgery, then we want you to be part of our platform—all together, as a one-stop shop.”

Delivering Complex Therapies Closer to Home

Patton said having Cencora as a partner is crucial as oncology is moving toward bringing complex treatments such as bispecific antibodies into community settings. OneOncology is one of the country’s leaders in bispecifics, he said, and having a partner that can bring resources—both financial and relationships—to what are still early days of bringing these therapies to patients certainly helps.

“CAR T-cell is a more difficult one,” he said. “Radioligands [are] another one. Our therapies are becoming more complicated, not less, which for a while is the way I thought it was going to go.”

As with OneOncology’s investments in urology practices, Cencora has invested in practices and services that will aid Americans as they age, notably Retina Consultants of America (RCA), which provides management services for 280 locations in 24 states.

“That’s why Cencora recognizes the push to the community,” Patton said. Older patients don’t want to travel downtown or drive to academic centers from rural areas for treatments, so “bringing that cutting-edge therapy to where they live—that’s what community oncology is.”

“To have a big, Fortune 10 company recognize that and have aligned incentives is great. Because the Cencoras of the world, they serve everybody—health systems and academia—I mean, everybody. To see them willing to make this big an investment in a community-based enterprise lends credence to [the idea of], ‘How are we going to take care of all these older people?’ Well, we need to come to where they are—as close as possible.”

References

1. TPG and AmerisourceBergen to acquire leading specialty practice network OneOncology from General Atlantic. News release. April 20, 2023. Accessed February 5, 2026. https://www.oneoncology.com/blog/tpg-and-amerisourcebergen-to-acquire-leading-specialty-practice-network-oneoncology-from-general-atlantic/
2. Cencora accelerates OneOncology acquisition, extending solutions offering for community oncology. News release. Cencora. December 15, 2025. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://investor.cencora.com/news/news-details/2025/Cencora-Accelerates-OneOncology-Acquisition-Extending-Solutions-Offering-for-Community-Oncology/default.aspx