Drug companies mull over idea of Amazon pharmacy

Bloomberg

The market is buzzing with speculation that Amazon.com Inc. will enter the pharmacy business. Some drugmakers are just fine with changes the tech retail giant might bring to the complex market.
Drug companies say getting medicine into patients’ hands is complicated and costly. Some have pointed to the multiple layers of middlemen including insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, distributors and pharmacies as one reason for distorted prices and high costs in the US.
Amazon’s entry could bring more efficiency, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. CEO Christophe Weber said. That could impact business in the US or in other markets.
“I am all in favour of a more effective distribution system,” Weber said, adding that in some countries the markup can be higher than the manufacturer’s own price. “For us it doesn’t matter so much where the point of sale is, as long as we reach the patient.”
People would be surprised to know how concentrated the drug wholesaler business already is, said Alessandro Della Cha, CEO of Cosmo Pharmaceuticals NV. Sometimes there are only three competitors in the market, he said. Amazon hasn’t commented on whether, or how, it could enter the drugs business.