Prognosis

Amazon Is Already Undercutting Prices on Over-the-Counter Pills

  • Basic Care drugs are cheaper than CVS, Walgreens store brands
  • Drugstores face threat from Amazon on prescription sales
Photographer: Sara Hylton/Bloomberg
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As pharmacy chains await Amazon.com Inc.’s entry into the prescription-drug market, the online retail giant is already undercutting them for non-prescription medicine for aches, colds and allergies.

Median prices for over-the-counter, private-brand medicine sold by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and CVS Health Corp. were about 20 percent higher than Basic Care, the over-the-counter drug line sold exclusively by Amazon, according to a report Friday by Jefferies Group analysts.