Amazon Gains As Pharmacy Unit Offers Half-Yearly $6 Prescriptions By Investing.com

By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares were buzzing Tuesday with its pharmacy unit launching six-month prescriptions starting at $6 in the U.S.

The stock rose 1.7% and touched a high of $3,266.44 in the session so far.

Prime members would get additional savings when paying without insurance, a Reuters report said.

Customers can pay as low as $1 per month for select medications, including drugs to treat diabetes and blood pressure, and will get free two-day delivery.

Under the new offering, customers can search for their medication by name and find out if it’s eligible for a six-month supply and what the price will be with Prime prescription savings benefit, Reuters said.

The supplies would be available only for customers who have a prescription from their healthcare providers.

Shares of pharmacy chains like Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA) and CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) were down 1.1% each, and those of drug distributors AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) and McKesson (NYSE:MCK) fell 0.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

Amazon is also looking at launching physical pharmacies in the U.S., Business Insider reported on May 26.

In other news surrounding the Jeff Bezos company, BofA (NYSE:BAC) said there are no signs of growth slowing at Amazon Fulfillment but the labor shortage is a big issue in near-term.