Amazon also wants to expand into the pharmacy sector. The e-commerce giant launched a subscription on Tuesday in the United States which allows, for 5 dollars per month, to obtain generic prescription drugs in unlimited quantities.
The service, dubbed RxPass, offers a suite of generic drugs “that treat more than 80 common ailments,” said Amazon, which estimates more than 150 million Americans occasionally or regularly take one or more of them. RxPass does not require the intervention of a health insurer, unlike the ordinary system in which the cost of drugs is covered, in whole or in part, by mutual insurance or public Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
In addition to Prime Membership
The initiative testifies to Amazon’s desire to continue to develop its health offer, whether in terms of medicines or care. The group notably announced, at the end of July, the acquisition of the private care network One Medical, for 3.9 billion dollars. The Seattle giant is also expanding, in passing, the services offered by the Prime subscription, which already offers, in addition to free delivery of orders on the Amazon site, a large catalog of films, series and musical titles. The price of the RxPass subscription will be added to that already paid for Prime.
RxPass is one of the most advanced formulas on the market for low-cost drugs, with the drug list service of the retail group Walmart, which provides one month’s treatment for a given generic drug for $4. In October, the start-up Renee launched an offer which makes it possible to obtain, at no additional cost, drugs from some 1,000 references for a subscription at the price of 25 dollars.
