CNBC reports that Amazon “has shelved its plan to sell and distribute pharmaceutical products after considering it last year,” but instead will focus, through its Amazon Business division, “on selling less sensitive medical supplies to hospitals and smaller clinics.”
The CNBC story says that the change “comes partly because Amazon has not been able to convince big hospitals to change their traditional purchasing process, which typically involves a number of middlemen and loyal relationships. Moreover, Amazon would also need to build a more sophisticated logistics network that can handle temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products, according to these people.”
However, the decision is not set in stone: “Multiple reports have speculated that the company will someday add a direct-to-consumer prescription drug business,” CNBC reports. “Amazon Business could also reconsider getting into the pharma space once it gains more scale, multiple people said.
“Meanwhile, the company continues to explore other health-care projects through different teams across the company, including Alexa and the secretive Grand Challenge team, sometimes referred to as ‘1492’.”
The CNBC story says that the change “comes partly because Amazon has not been able to convince big hospitals to change their traditional purchasing process, which typically involves a number of middlemen and loyal relationships. Moreover, Amazon would also need to build a more sophisticated logistics network that can handle temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products, according to these people.”
However, the decision is not set in stone: “Multiple reports have speculated that the company will someday add a direct-to-consumer prescription drug business,” CNBC reports. “Amazon Business could also reconsider getting into the pharma space once it gains more scale, multiple people said.
“Meanwhile, the company continues to explore other health-care projects through different teams across the company, including Alexa and the secretive Grand Challenge team, sometimes referred to as ‘1492’.”
- KC's View:
- Sometimes you have to choose your windmills.
