According to Reuters, Amazon is exploring entering the Japanese prescription medicine sales sector.
If it does, it intends to collaborate with smaller pharmacies beginning next year, when electronic prescriptions are first permitted in the nation.
The government sets prescription medicine pricing in Japan. There is a fragmented distribution system there, with 70 wholesalers nationally and over 60,000 pharmacies.
Amazon has recently made a number of acquisitions and business expansions, including a greater focus on healthcare. The FTC is investigating one of the acquisitions, that of One Medical.
Amazon agreed to pay $3.9 million for the healthcare company. One Medical has clinics in a variety of U.S. markets.
In a recent securities filing, One Medical stated that both company and Amazon had received requests for further information on the transaction.
Amazon’s proposal to acquire One Medical is the company’s first major purchase revealed by new CEO Andy Jassy. Jassy had previously stated that he wished to devote more time to healthcare.
Because federal competition investigations may be long and take months to complete, the FTC inquiry might cause delays. On average, the longest take is roughly 11 months.
One Medical is a membership-based general care practice with on-site locations in major U.S. cities. It also includes telehealth services.
Amazon has been investigating healthcare at a time when many corporations are eager to expand their healthcare operations.
Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical also prompted the eCommerce giant to discontinue its Amazon Care program, which it had launched in 2019 as an employee-based telemedicine service that also delivered healthcare providers to people’s homes.
Senior Vice President Neil Lindsay noted when the service was shut down that the choice had not been simple and that it had taken months to reach the decision.
