Pharmaceuticals the next step for Amazon

Amazon is seriously considering entering the pharmaceuticals business, an industry which in the USA alone racks up 4 billion prescriptions a year, and in 2015 registered sales of 300 billion dollars just for prescription drugs.

Nothing has yet been decided, but the retail giant has taken on a new manager and charged his team with drawing up a strategy. Meanwhile, the company's “professional health care program” team has grown in size and has recently starting selling health care instrumentation and machinery in the American market. (Source: CNBC).

From an article published last year by Japan Times, it also appears that Amazon has extended its Japan market PrimeNow service to drugs and cosmetics. These products, which fall under the category of pharmaceuticals, must be approved by a pharmacist before they can be bought on-line.