While the healthcare industry is full of speculation over Amazon's potential entrance into the pharmacy market, one analyst believes the retailer may be more interested in the medical device market, reports CNBC.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday reported Amazon received wholesale distribution licenses in a dozen states, fueling rumors the online retailer might step into the pharmaceutical supply chain. Amazon also owns the domain name AmazonRX.com, Wells Fargo noted Thursday.
However, Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut believes the company may be expanding its professional medical device business, citing the recent launch of Amazon's business-to-business medical device web page.
"[T]he out-of-state wholesaler license that [Amazon] filed with the state of Nevada revealed that [Amazon] did not select 'Controlled Substances' as a type of product that they would be handling," Tanquilut said in a research note Friday, according to CNBC. "While we acknowledge that there are prescription drugs that don't fall under the definition of 'controlled substances', the active decision to choose not to distribute those types of drugs leads us to believe that [Amazon] will not be using these licenses to distribute any prescription drugs."
Amazon previously told CNBC it does not comment on rumors or speculation.
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