Meet PillPack, the pharmacy startup Amazon just acquired that's sent pharmacy stocks into a frenzy
- PillPack, a digital pharmacy startup founded in 2013, is being acquired by Amazon.
- PillPack simplifies the process of managing medications for customers who take five or more prescriptions daily by pre-sorting, packaging, labeling and delivering the medications at the start of every week.
- The service delivers to anywhere in the US except Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and they also work with Medicare plans.
TJ Parker had worked in and around pharmacies his whole life.
He grew up in a family that owned and operated a pharmacy, then ended up going to pharmacy school himself. Living in the Boston area, he met co-founder, Elliot Cohen, while running hackathons to find solutions for healthcare problems at MIT. It was there that they first stumbled upon the idea for digital pharmacy PillPack, and by the beginning of 2013, the startup had hit the ground running.
"When I started PillPack there was almost no startup activity in pharmacy," Parker said in an interview. "Now there's a ton of activity and that's super exciting, it's a $400 billion market domestically, and I think there should be a number of different solutions for different types of customers."
On Thursday, Amazon announced its plans to acquire PillPack for an undisclosed amount.
Pharmacy stocks in the US market dropped on the deal announcement, most notably CVS (-8.1%), Rite Aid (-3.1%), and Walgreens Boots Alliance (-9.2%).
PillPack simplifies the process of managing medications for customers who take five or more prescriptions daily. It sorts and packages the medication then delivers them to the door of the customer. Prior to PillPack, these customers would need to go to the pharmacy three or four times a month.
Customers can keep track of their medications further on the PillPack mobile app, where they can also get reminder texts and chat with a pharmacist.
PillPack
PillPack has a physical pharmacy located in Manchester, New Hampshire, and they mail all their medications to anywhere in the US except Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The company also works with Medicare plans.