Amazon pharmacy imminent

AMERICAN retail giant Amazon is reportedly finalising its strategy in relation to the sale of prescription drugs online, with a final decision to be made in the next few weeks according to CNBC. .

The company’s health ambitions at this stage particularly relate to the USA where the prescription medication market is worth as much as US 560 billion annually.

The report says the decision is imminent, and follows significant research by Amazon into the health space including the recruitment of a general manager ( PD 19 May).

The speculation has already seen a 5 decline in the share prices of retail pharmacy groups in the USA including Walgreens, CVS Health and Rite Aid.

Analysts say any move by Amazon into pharmacy would have a significant impact on the sector, with the company having about 75 million subscribers to its Amazon Prime service and “nearly unlimited resources”.

In Australia Amazon’s plans are less developed, with the company earlier this year confirming it would roll out a full retail offering here from next year ( PD 20 Apr).

It’s not clear at this stage whether this would involve pharmacy lines, but API ceo Richard Vincent said the company was not significantly concerned about Amazon’s impact ( PD 21 Apr), saying health and beauty had not been a key growth driver for the company.