Advertisement

Amazon To Buy Somerville-Based Online Pharmacy PillPack

A Pillpack dispenser with medication packaged in dosage packets (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A Pillpack dispenser with medication packaged in dosage packets (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Amazon is buying Somerville-based PillPack, an online pharmacy that offers presorted dose packaging and home delivery.

Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Amazon said Thursday that PillPack offers a combination of deep pharmacy experience and a focus on technology.

The company, which has its primary pharmacy in Manchester, New Hampshire, ships to all states except Hawaii.

In an interview with WBUR earlier this year, TJ Parker, one of PillPack's co-founders, said retail pharmacies haven't caught up with the reality of people who take multiple medications, meaning patients do a lot of work themselves.

"They've gotta go to the store three or four times a month because the pharmacy can't even fill them the same day," Parker said. "Then they got to call their doctors constantly to get refills to make sure they don't run out of the medication."

A PillPack spokesperson said the deal won't have any impact on the Somerville workforce.

The companies expect to close the deal later this year.

In premarket trading, shares of drugstore chains Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid slid.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

This article was originally published on June 28, 2018.

Earlier:

Advertisement

More from WBUR

Listen Live
Close