Amazon confirms entry into healthcare with PillPack acquisition

Amazon, the online shopping goliath, has confirmed its entrance into the healthcare market by announcing its proposed acquisition of PillPack — an online pharmacy that offers pre-sorted doses of medication delivered to patients’ homes.

The online retailer, which has been in the news over the years as potentially entering the healthcare market, has finally staked its claim and entered into a definitive merger agreement for the acquisition of PillPack.

“PillPack’s visionary team has a combination of deep pharmacy experience and a focus on technology,” stated Jeff Wilke, Amazon CEO Worldwide Consumer. “PillPack is meaningfully improving its customers’ lives, and we want to help them continue making it easy for people to save time, simplify their lives, and feel healthier. We’re excited to see what we can do together on behalf of customers over time.”

“PillPack makes it simple for any customer to take the right medication at the right time, and feel healthier,” added TJ Parker, co-founder and CEO of PillPack. “Together with Amazon, we are eager to continue working with partners across the healthcare industry to help people throughout the US who can benefit from a better pharmacy experience.”

Ramifications of this move have already been witnessed with listed US chemists, such as Walgreens Boots Alliance and CVS Health Corp experiencing sharp drops in share prices after the news hit, as reported by The Financial Times.

The transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, although it is anticipated that the agreement will be finalised in the second half of the year. Financial terms were not disclosed but there has been speculation that the deal will be worth around $1 billion, according to Tech Crunch.