Major disruption is on the cards for New Zealand’s physical pharmacies, with new digital providers PillDrop and Zoom Pharmacy entering the market and retail giant Amazon possibly on the horizon.

Full-service pharmacy PillDrop, approved by the Ministry of Health ahead of its mid-January launch in Auckland, could be a gamechanger for how Kiwis manage their health said its founder, nurse Suzanne Burge.

“PillDrop is committed to moving beyond the traditional dispensing model by using modern technology to adapt to the changing demands of the population...bringing pharmacy services to where people live, work and play,” said Burge.

The company has waived the standard prescription fee and offers a simple process: Send a photo of your medication to PillDrop, the prescription is dispensed 24/7 by a fully qualified pharmacist with full access to your dispensing history and delivered the same day to your door. Prescription medication is delivered in pill sachets, with doses pre-sorted into individual packets.

PillDrop’s services will be rolled-out in Christchurch by mid-2020, followed by other major centres by the end of the year.

Zoom Pharmacy also recently entered the New Zealand market, offering a digital, free standard prescription service with nationwide delivery and, like PillDrop, delivering pre-packed prescription medication.

In news from across the Tasman, Sydney Morning Herald reported Amazon has registered ‘Amazon Pharmacy’ for a trademark with IP Australia, suggesting it could be looking to enter the highly regulated Australian pharmaceuticals market.

The application included a "pharmacy packaging service that aligns, sorts and packages a patient's medications by date and time into individual packets" service, in line with Amazon's existing pharmacy retail service in the US.