Why Pharmacies Are About To Be Hit Hard By Disruption

Pharmaceutical distribution vary from country to country, but all of them are subject factors that make genuine competition in the sale of prescription drugs a complex matter. The need to verify that the patient requesting a given medicine has obtained the corresponding prescription from a doctor, as well as other aspects related to how the medicine is acquired (totally or partially subsidized, by public or private bodies, etc.), along with other issues reflect a business fabric that can vary enormously from the large US drugstore chains to the traditional pharmacies in many European countries, owned by a qualified pharmacist, with their regulated margins, and which until a few years ago, sold only pharmaceutical or related products.

Recent moves by Amazon seem to presage disruption in the pharmaceutical sector. In June 2018, the e-commerce giant acquired PillPack for just under $1 billion, precipitating sharp falls in the share value of companies such as CVS, Walgreens, Boots or Rite Aid: PillPack, which also traded with Walmart and was simply a little-known startup as far as the general public was concerned, had obtained a license to sell prescription drugs in all US states, and furthermore, was a service designed from scratch to be digital, a situation very few of its competitors could contemplate.

The full Forbes article can be viewed at this link.