Amazon buys PillPack, an online pharmacy, for just under $1B

Post by kolbe » Thu, Jun 28, 2018, 7:47 PM UTC

beagle3 wrote: post #158

kolbe wrote: post #65

The cumulative loss to CVS's and Walgreens's market caps has been about $12b. If Amazon had wanted to, they likely could have made more from the destruction of value to those companies than they paid to buy PillPack. I wonder what other industries out there can be arbitraged like this. I bet Amazon could shave well over $10b of market cap off of BKNG if they made the right strategic investment.

IANAL but I suspect it is actually legal for Amazon to short CVS+Walgreen in this case: Don't "inside information" trading laws apply only to the specific company about which information is available?

Post by Rotten194 » Thu, Jun 28, 2018, 7:52 PM UTC

Post by bpicolo » Thu, Jun 28, 2018, 8:01 PM UTC

sah2ed wrote: post #84

chimeracoder wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just as a data point, I don't believe I've gotten a fake from Amazon. You almost certainly have, though you may not be able to tell the difference if you don't actively look for it.

> You almost certainly have, though you may not be able to tell the difference if you don't actively look for it. The gp merely asked for anecdotal data, nothing rigorous. By disagreeing, you are indirectly implying that the commenter is somehow incapable of telling fakes from the real deal. How does anyone reliably tell fakes apart?

Post by monetus » Thu, Jun 28, 2018, 8:10 PM UTC

protonimitate wrote: post #22

tombrossman wrote: post #18

This is interesting because Amazon isn't exactly known for supply chain integrity. Who here hasn't received fakes from Amazon? If you rely on a specific medication for your health, is Amazon a brand you trust to deliver it? How long until they start commingling pills and shipping random counterfeit/fake product to users? Hope it never happens but if they do with pharmaceuticals what they did with everything else they…

I understand the fear, but I don't think fake medicine is as big of an issue as fake market place items. PillPack already has an established distribution network and prescription delivery licensing in 50 states. I don't know for certain, but I would assume that fake prescription medicine is a much bigger risk and would threaten the operation more than, say, fake batteries.

Post by rickster88 » Thu, Jun 28, 2018, 8:11 PM UTC

wjp3 wrote: post #131

snissn wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> for the millions of us taking one pill every night, e.g the "pillpack" is wasteful. Does the pillpack have a separate pack for each day with the date clearly labeled? If so I feel that would help a lot with adherence, which in my opinion is a serious problem

It does. The only problem is getting more granular - if you have a medication that is administered throughout a day, you'll have to handle that yourself.