Amazon’s Acquisition
Media outlets reported that Amazon announced its acquisition of PillPack yesterday. PillPack is an online pharmacy company that allows users purchase medicine in pre-sorted doses. The acquisition is reportedly coming a week after the appointment of a CEO for Amazon’s healthcare venture in collaboration with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway. Media outlets have suggested
Sources revealed that after a funding round two years ago, PillPack was reportedly valued at $361 million. Although the explicit terms of the deal remain undisclosed, sources revealed that the deal between PillPack and Amazon went for less than $1billion.
Media outlets, however, reported that the deal was worth more than Walmart’s offer to PillPack in previous discussions of acquisition. The agreement between Amazon and PillPack is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year as its completion is still subject to relevant regulatory approvals alongside some other stipulated closing conditions.
Amazon’s Launch Into The Healthcare Sector
Media outlets reported that Amazon’s acquisition of PillPack stood as an indication of the current state of events in the e-health industry, and a part of Amazon’s plan to become the first point of call for any consumer or medical organization’s need in the healthcare area.
Sources claimed that the strength which the tech company wields in commerce would primarily affect the development of the e-health market. In addition, it was stated that its acquisition of PillPack was an indication of how PillPack will be scaled out and a pattern of how other pharmacy companies’ responses will be.
PillPack Pharmacy Company
PillPack is reportedly a U.S. online pharmacy set up to offer the best customer experience to consumers who take multiple prescriptions daily. The company does this by delivering medications in pre-sorted dose packages, coordinating renewals and refills and ensuring the prompt shipment of the medications. These features have reportedly helped customers take their pills as prescribed and have improved health outcomes and led to costs reduction.
PillPack is located in Manchester, New Hampshire and it started out at Techstars in Boston five years ago. Over the years, the company has reportedly raised about $123 million from investors including Menlo Ventures, Charles Rivers Venture, Accel, and Accomplice.
According to the Amazon CEO of Worldwide Consumer, Jeff Wilke, the pharmacy company has a visionary team with robust pharmacy experience and are also technology-oriented. He further stated that PillPack was significantly bringing about visible improvements to the lives of its customers and Amazon want to be a part of the company’s goal in saving people’s time, simplifying lives and helping them live a healthier life.
PillPack has an operation license for all the states in the U.S and also boasts of important accreditations including VIPPS and URAC. The company also has an internal network pharmacy with most PBMS with the inclusion of primary Medicare Part D plans, but its operations currently do not extend to the international markets. The company’s system is built around its proprietary set of software and tools known as PharmacyOS which helps in the management of patient data and figures and maintenance of a balance of medications in safe doses for customers.
The company has reportedly been handling a major challenge arising from the fact that the US has a population who are massive consumers of medicines, which has resulted in a high record of drug abuse. By making controlled doses available to patients in the right doses, the company stated that it has been able to tackle this issue.
Sources claim that the CEO and co-founder of PillPack, TJ Park will most likely remain a part of the online pharmacy business. Parker reportedly stated that the company was enthusiastic about partnering with Amazon to assist its US customers in taking the right doses at the appropriate time. He added that PillPack was glad to be working with Amazon and other companies across the healthcare industry who all have the sole aim of assisting people in the U.S. enjoy the benefits of a pharmacy system that serves them better.
