Nimble Pharmacy, a startup based in the San Francisco area, is extending its prescription drug delivery service to Seattle and San Diego, setting it up for a potential clash with Amazon’s healthcare ambitions.
The company announced that its direct-to-door prescription delivery will be available in the Seattle area as far north as Everett, south to Tacoma and east to Issaquah. Amazon has also been rumored to be considering a prescription drug delivery service, just one of several healthcare ventures the tech giant is feeling out.
Nimble Pharmacy has no retail locations, instead relying on technology. The company accepts electronic pharmacy orders directly from doctors and offers free, same-day delivery to patients.
Patients can also manage and order refills through Nimble Pharmacy’s app and website. The company accepts a range of insurers, one of the biggest hurdles to entering the healthcare space.
The company is addressing a huge pain point for the health system: Trying to adapt to a digital-first world and take advantage of the conveniences of e-commerce and smartphones.
“We are thrilled to help Seattle, San Diego, and San Francisco skip the pharmacy line,” CEO Talha Sattar said in a press release. “We know how painful pharmacy trips can be: consumers taking medication average 22 pharmacy visits per year and wait in lines stretching from the pharmacy into store shelves. We started Nimble Pharmacy to create a better experience to serve the 250 million Americans who rely on medication to live their lives on their terms.”
Amazon recently scrapped plans to start selling pharmaceuticals to hospitals after coming up against insurmountable challenges in the market. But selling prescription drugs online would be a much more simple and consumer-focused effort, drawing on its market-dominating expertise in e-commerce and consumer delivery.
