Amazon’s recent acquiring of online pharmacy PillPack, has been widely seen as a move that will disrupt the pharmacy business and could have a positive impact on patient engagement access to affordable prescriptions.
PillPack targets a specific sector of patients who have to take several different medications at any time. It packages pills in individual packets that help people remember when to take their drugs every day, an issue faced by many people taking, for example, drugs for diabetes, high cholesterol, blood pressures and cancer.
Buying PillPack is not Amazon’s first move into healthcare. It already sells over-the-counter medicines such as aspirin and antihistamines here in America, in addition to vitamins, supplements, and other health-related products. It even launched its own line of off-brand medicines called Basic Care in mid-2017 which sells medical supplies such as face masks and swabs and plans to expand into supplying hospitals and clinics with them as well.
Those who are watching the move closely anticipate that Amazon will eventually drive drug prices down due to its almost monopoly-like control over the delivered goods industry.
According to results from the 2018 Walker Sands Future of Retail report, 29% of consumers say they’re excited about