KEY POINTS
  • PillPack CEO TJ Parker made about $100 million selling his start-up to Amazon last year, and he's now in charge of leading Amazon's pharmacy efforts.
  • PillPack is building out physical pharmacies and is in talks with insurers to make the online service available to many more consumers.
  • Amazon and PillPack now represent a common enemy for the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), who worry that their position as industry middleman is threatened.

It was May 2018, and PillPack CEO TJ Parker was in Seattle to meet with a small contingent from Amazon.

Suitors had been swarming around his online pharmacy, which was taking on CVS and Walgreens and growing rapidly in the process. Walmart was deep in talks with the Boston-based start-up, and pharmaceutical maker Novartis was also hovering.