| Amazon Pharmacy | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Area Served: | United States |
| Industry: | Pharmaceutical |
| Services: | Online pharmacy |
| Parent: | Amazon |
Amazon Pharmacy is an American online pharmacy which is a subsidiary of Amazon. The business was launched on November 17, 2020, initially offering pharmacy service only in the United States.
On November 17, 2020, Amazon launched Amazon Pharmacy.[1] The move was described as "arguably Amazon’s broadest push into the healthcare business to-date."
Amazon Pharmacy's business is based on sales. The company offers free, two-day home delivery of prescriptions to Amazon Prime subscribers.[2] Amazon Pharmacy requires customers to establish a secure pharmacy profile to manage insurance and medical information.[3] At the time of its formation, Amazon Pharmacy's operation was limited to the United States.[3] At the time of its launch, Amazon Pharmacy also announced its intention to offer a help line staffed by pharmacists and a discount program for uninsured customers.[4]
Challenges faced by Amazon Pharmacy include the need for customers to ask doctors to redirect prescriptions, customer habit in using nearby brick-and-mortar drug stores, and customer desire to speak in person with a pharmacist.[5]
The formation of Amazon Pharmacy was expected to result in disruption of the retail pharmacy sector. On the day of its launch, stock prices for competitors dropped: GoodRx by 20%; Rite Aid by 16%; and Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy by 9% each.[4] In all, drugstores, drug distributors, and health insurers lost $22 billion in market value on the day of Amazon Pharmacy's launch.[6]
An analysis from Citi Research called the announcement "a disruption to the system and competitive threat that will likely shift scripts away from the retail channel."[7] An Edwards Jones analyst opined that Amazon Pharmacy was a particular threat to smaller drugstores that lack the purchasing power of major drugstore chains.[7]
Some employers, such as 7-Eleven, began only paying for prescriptions through Amazon Pharmacy following its launch through their health insurance plan.
The establishment of Amazon Pharmacy followed Amazon's acquisition of PillPack in June 2018 for a reported .[8] In an interim step, Amazon rebranded PillPack in November 2019 as "PillPack, by Amazon Pharmacy".[9] With the launch of Amazon Pharmacy, the company announced that PillPack would continue to operate as a "distinct service for customers managing multiple daily medications for chronic conditions."[2]