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Amazon logistics center in Peterborough, UK
Photo: DARREN STAPLES / REUTERS
The online giant Amazon announced the launch of its own online pharmacy in the US this Tuesday.
The world's largest online retailer is heating up competition with the new "Amazon Pharmacy" mail order service for prescription drugs.
Amazon offers price comparisons when buying drugs via the website or app.
In addition, customers can choose between a co-payment option for insured persons and a discounted offer for Prime members if the drugs are to be paid for privately without insurance.
The company announced it would not ship drugs that could be misused, including many opioids.
Amazon acquired the online pharmacy Pillpack in 2018 and has secured more state licenses for the delivery of medical prescriptions in the United States over the past two years.
With the announcement, Amazon sent the shares of the competition downhill.
Shares of the pharmaceutical chains Walgreens, CVS Health and Rite Aid lost between eight and twelve percent before trading on Wall Street.
Competitors Cardinal Health and McKesson also gave way.
On the other hand, Amazon shares rose by 2.5 percent before the IPO.
The trend towards shopping on the Internet helped Amazon to do brilliant business during the corona crisis.
In the third quarter, sales grew 37 percent year-on-year to $ 96.1 billion (EUR 82.3 billion).
Profits tripled to $ 6.3 billion.
The pharmaceutical market could also benefit more from this trend in the future.
According to the market researcher JDPower, the acceptance of online drug orders is still low.
Most recently, the Federal Court of Justice ruled that the Dutch chain Docmorris is not allowed to operate pharmacy vending machines in Germany.
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hej / Reuters
