Amazon Buys PillPack, an Online Pharmacy, For Just Under $1 Billion (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: A week after appointing a CEO for its healthcare joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan, Amazon today announced an acquisition that underscores how it also hopes to have a more direct -- and more commercial -- role in the world of healthcare in the coming years. The company has purchased PillPack, an online pharmacy the lets users buy medications in pre-made doses. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed by Amazon, but sources close to the deal say it was for just under $1 billion.

PillPack has a license to operate in all 50 states in the U.S. and has other accreditations such as URAC AND VIPPS, but it doesn't seem to be operational in international markets. Its PharmacyOS -- the system it has built that forms the basis of the company -- is a platform that helps manage patient data and figure out how to balance meds together in safe doses for its customers.

Comments

Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[MAXOMENOS]

Prescription drugs are a huge chunk of their business - and now Amazon is moving into that space. Other than that, they sell OTC products, photo services, and some knick-knacks. I'm not saying that Amazon is an existential threat to them, but...look at what happened to chain bookstores.

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[EvilSS]

Well their stocks sure are. CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid stocks all dropped after the news.

Re: Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[TimMD909]

Never understood why a company that's selling medications should also be worried about selling me useless shit. Hell, I bought a telescope once while waiting for a pain med refill after surgery. Don't load me up on drugs then offer me stupid shit. I won't be able to help myself. It'd be like getting an oil change for your car at Olive Garden.

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[93 Escort Wagon]

Unless Amazon figures out how to make their shipping reliable again, I can't see this succeeding. Most of the time people don't have a week-wide window for receipt of their drugs.

Re: Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[Anonymous Coward]

It'd be like getting an oil change for your car at Olive Garden.

Shit ... I hope they used motor oil and not olive oil in my ... uh, friend's ... car.

I gotta go check on something, bbl.

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[alvinrod]

Amazon could probably buy up spaces in malls or other retail locations that have gone out of business over the last several years and create shipping centers where people can pick up shipments if they can't reliably get it at home. Either that or they just store stuff there and do last mile deliveries themselves during the hours that people are actually home. There're plenty of people who want to be Uber drivers during those hours, so I could see Amazon being able to find people willing to do the work.

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[reboot246]

When I need my prescription refilled, I just text my pharmacist (my daughter) at Walgreens and tell her when I can be there to pick it up. She responds with an "OK" and tells me how much it will be. Doesn't everyone have a pharmacist in the family?

Amazon's delivery is so unreliable that I'd NEVER trust my health to it. People on meds need their meds to be available when they need them, not when some driver decides to deliver them. I have had one Amazon item (battery charger) stolen by a USPS employee. I wonder how many drugs they'll steal once Amazon starts shipping them.

I know several pharmacies in the area that offer free delivery to your home. How can Amazon compete with something that is free AND reliable?

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[MAXOMENOS]

Amazon's two-day shipping has been pretty reliable for me. Then again, I live in a major metropolitan area. I suppose if I lived in the boonies it might be different.

Re: Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[dhjdhj]

I am boycotting Walgreens due to their willingness to hire pharmacists who can refuse to dispense medications based on their religious beliefs. Everyone (rational) should boycott them.

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[demonlapin]

I live in a very minor metropolitan area, and I almost never have problems with Amazon delivery. I order, it appears two days later. I think they miss it about once a year, and then typically only by one day.

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[pete6677]

Walgreen's online pharmacy sucks balls. They should be very fearful of any real competition, especially from a company known to do things right.

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[Zontar The Mindless]

Yeah... and after that, they could just start storing the goods they have for sale in those spaces, where people could actually come and look at them and maybe even try them out before making their purchases.

I think you might be on to something here!

Re:Walgreens and Rite-Aid should be worried

[sjbe]

When I need my prescription refilled, I just text my pharmacist (my daughter) at Walgreens and tell her when I can be there to pick it up. She responds with an "OK" and tells me how much it will be. Doesn't everyone have a pharmacist in the family?

So you support your daughter - as you should. If my daughter was a pharmacist that's the route I'd go too. Hopefully your daughter isn't this asshat that works for Walgreens.

Amazon's delivery is so unreliable that I'd NEVER trust my health to it.

You admit in the previous sentence that you rely on a family member so please don't pretend to be objective here. I ordered nearly 200 deliveries last year and if there is a more reliable company for delivery of products purchased online than Amazon I sure haven't found them. And I doubt Amazon would deny someone their medications like pharmacists at Walgreens just did.

People on meds need their meds to be available when they need them, not when some driver decides to deliver them.

If you are ordering meds through the mail obviously you aren't concerned about getting them right this minute. If you need them quickly then go to your local pharmacy in person. I get mail order meds through my insurance plan all the time and it works fine.

I have had one Amazon item (battery charger) stolen by a USPS employee.

Exactly how is that Amazon's fault?

I know several pharmacies in the area that offer free delivery to your home. How can Amazon compete with something that is free AND reliable?

Umm by being free and reliable and cheaper than your local pharmacy. Duh..

That's old news already.

[Hallux-F-Sinister]

Tomorrow, they're buying AT&T, (and all that they own,) SpaceX, (and getting a free Tesla thrown in... sorry, I mean getting Tesla, thrown in, for free,) Disney, and all they own, (wait, do they own Disney already? I forget...) then next week, they're buying Apple, IBM, Sony, Toyota, Volkswagen, and the company that makes all pens and most pencils. What do they not own yet?

Re:That's old news already.

[crow]

The big news would be if they bought a generic drug manufacturer.

Re:That's old news already.

[PolygamousRanchKid]

then next week, they're buying Apple, IBM, Sony, Toyota, Volkswagen, and the company that makes all pens and most pencils. What do they not own yet?

Nah . . . Amazon doesn't want to outright buy an automobile manufacturer . . . then they would be stuck with the product liability. That's something Amazon explicitly wants to avoid. They are just a "marketplace" or "re-seller". If you have any problems with something you have bought on Amazon . . . you need to chase down the supplier in China.

However, I could see them selling cars. Then they could get a good chunk of the sales commission, and leave all the problems to the manufacturer.

Car dealerships will kick up a fuss . . . but against Amazon . . . what clout will they have . . . ?

Re:That's old news already.

[froggyjojodaddy]

"If you have any problems with something you have bought on Amazon . . . you need to chase down the supplier in China." Personally, I only buy stuff that is Prime Eligible from Amazon. I specifically use that filter every time I search. The odd occasion I have had a problem with a product, the Chinese supplier has been phenomenal, like surprisingly quick to respond and fix the issue. The English is a bit off, but that's expected and hasn't detracted from the customer experience.

Only one time I had a problem with a US based supplier of a product where they wouldn't honor a warranty claim. A quick chat with an Amazon rep fixed that - they issued me a refund on the spot

So.. Amazon might be a 're-seller' but they are definitely interested in delivering a good experience.

Re:PharmacyOS

[MAXOMENOS]

Wait....minions come with an API?

This is GREAT NEWS!

Just what we needed

[ausekilis]

Cheap knock-off drugs posing as the real-deal.
I can see the reviews now: "This pill is slightly blue-er than my typical prescription. Normally I just spend the afternoon having full conversations with my dog. This time I he actually talked back! Added bonus the lawn was on fire and walls were swirling. 3 stars."

Re:Just what we needed

[Kulahan]

Off-brand medication is the better choice nearly 100% of the time. The active ingredient is what you're buying. So long as it has the same amount per dose, and the same delivery method (gel capsule, pill, injection, etc.), the effect will be the same. So yes, cheap knockoff medicine is *exactly* what we need.

Re:Just what we needed

[OverlordQ]

That's not all of it. Occasionally people have reactions to the non-active ingredients in generics so there is a purpose to still prescribing the on-brand versions.

Re:Just what we needed

[brianerst]

Amazon Basics Viagra - 250 pack for $9.99

Re:Just what we needed

[whoever57]

Nearly 100% of the time, but not all.

Some doses depend on the rate at which the drug becomes available to the body.

It's possible to adjust the dose to match the rate at which the pill dissolves (and hence control the uptake of the drug) but then a change to a different supplier by the pharmacist may put the dose off.

Re:Just what we needed

[demonlapin]

Generics are allowed to have anywhere from 80%-125% of the bioavailablity of the brand drug (IIRC, but it's not far off that if I'm wrong).

IF you can get the generic from the same manufacturer every time, this is no big deal - but for certain classes of drugs (antiepileptics are famous for this), you spend a lot of time titrating a drug to the point where it does the job with tolerable side effects. So while it doesn't really matter if you get the brand or a generic, you have to be sure you're getting your product off the same production line every time - and pharmacies switch generic suppliers all the time, buying whatever's cheapest.

Re:PharmacyOS

[93 Escort Wagon]

That's going to go well with AmazonOS, FireOS, AlexaOS, ShippingOS, DroneOS and UnderpaidminionsOS!

MalpractOS

Re:Dr. Alexa will see you now.

[fahrbot-bot]

Alexa actually knows more about you than your doctor. She sees how you live, your sleep cycles, food you order, the vocabulary you use, and how much exercise you get. ...

Alexa is Santa?

(I'm going to ask her for a pony.)

Jeff Bezos is going to go to outer space too...

[decep]

He's just not going to use a spaceship to get there.

Doctors u be obsolete

[Fly Swatter]

"a platform that helps manage patient data and figure out how to balance meds together in safe doses for its customers"

Isn't this what doctors that get the big bucks to prescribe those medications are supposed to do?

Re:Doctors u be obsolete

[demonlapin]

News flash: doctors whose primary business is prescribing don't make the big bucks. The money is in procedures.

And what you're describing is really a pharmacist's job - figuring out how to administer a set of prescriptions in a logical way. Almost nobody who is on more than three medications gets them all from the same doctor. This service (which I think is brilliant, really) takes a set of prescriptions and organizes them into groups of drugs that will not interfere with each other, whose side effects will be more tolerable (e.g., a once-a-day drug causes drowsiness? Give at bedtime.), and then labels each package with a date and time to take it. The logical next step is an app tied into your pharmacy profile that reminds you when a dose is due. It doesn't even have to say what's in there. You could just have it tell you to take the packet labeled "June 28, 2018, 7:00 PM" - and even have you scan the packet to demonstrate that you are picking the correct one (bonus: caretakers of those with mild dementia can use those scanning records to figure out if someone has been missing doses).

The real question

[JThundley]

Is PharmacyOS vulnerable to the recent Intel vulnerabilities?

That's not really the problem

[rsilvergun]

it's an actual pharmacy. It'll be heavily regulated. The issue is Amazon's taking over. Eventually they'll run everything out of business and when they do they'll jack up the prices. If we were a sane country we'd respond with regulation but, well, Americans are nuts.

Re:That's not really the problem

[yodleboy]

what do you mean jack up the prices? ever look at the reciept from Walgreens and see "insurance saved you $600", on a generic? Medicine is in more need of reform than anything.

Re:Subscription for the perscription.

[demonlapin]

Free if your time has no value. Every time I have to get a prescription from a physical location, I spend at least five, usually ten, and as much as thirty minutes waiting in line just to pick up one that has already been filled. Drive-through is usually faster, but then one slowpoke with a thousand questions can shut the entire thing down and it ends up being much worse than going inside.

Re:PharmacyOS

[Zontar The Mindless]

That's going to go well with AmazonOS, FireOS, AlexaOS, ShippingOS, DroneOS and UnderpaidminionsOS!

MalpractOS

I'm pretty sure Elizabeth Holmes already has the last one covered.

Not reliable?

[sjbe]

Unless Amazon figures out how to make their shipping reliable again, I can't see this succeeding.

I buy stuff from Amazon several times a week and so do most of my co-workers (both for business and personal). If there is an online company that is more reliable out regarding deliveries I haven't found them. No they aren't perfect but they do a DAMN good job. If they didn't they wouldn't be as large as they are.

Most of the time people don't have a week-wide window for receipt of their drugs.

Let me guess, you aren't a Prime member right? Virtually everything I order arrives in 2 days or less and if it will take longer they tell you in advance. Amazon has this stuff figured out just fine. You seriously think that Amazon would treat drug deliveries the same as some random trinket? Come on. You don't have to like Amazon but don't pretend they are stupid or incompetent.

Amazon isn't just a reseller

[sjbe]

They are just a "marketplace" or "re-seller". If you have any problems with something you have bought on Amazon . . . you need to chase down the supplier in China.

You are aware that Amazon sells their own branded good right? Fire tablets, Kindle, Amazon Basics, a variety of goods through Whole Foods, etc. They are definitively not just a reseller.