Health Care Flat as Amazon Move Seen Shaking Up Pharmacy Business -- Health Care Roundup

Shares of health-care companies were more or less flat amid predictions that another corner of the U.S. health system would soon undergo a transformation. Amazon.com could rapidly grow the recently acquired PillPack business of online drug distribution and eventually capture between 20% and 80% of the "maintenance" pharmaceutical distribution business in the U.S., a roughly $270 billion market, according to analysts at brokerage Morgan Stanley. In a note to clients, Morgan Stanley said Amazon would likely "leverage" its physical Whole Foods locations as it builds its online pharmacy. While CVS Holdings' Aetna acquisition will likely help it carve out a role in the new pharmaceutical-distribution world, other incumbents, such as Walgreen, may have to change strategy, according to the brokerage. Shares of the pharmacy chains, which fell precipitously when the PillPack deal was reported last week, rose slightly Monday.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 02, 2018 16:47 ET (20:47 GMT)

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