Amazon’s plan to buy PillPack, an online pharmacy startup, will disrupt the status quo for traditional consumer-facing approaches for selling prescription drugs and medical supplies.
PillPack’s pharmacy services and IT expertise, melded with Amazon’s retailing reach and domination, will inject new digital health capabilities that will further empower consumers by making it easier for them to get health services, industry observers say.
The retail giant—long rumored to be seeking a way to enter the healthcare market—found a quick way to circumvent the challenges involved in obtaining mail-order pharmacy licenses in individual states. That means Amazon-PillPack will enter direct competition with retail pharmacies that have held the lion’s share of prescription drug sales.
