Market Trends of Healthcare Distribution Industry
Retail Pharmacy is Expected to Witness a Significant Growth Over the Forecast Period
Retail pharmacies (often known as community pharmacies) supply and sell medicine and medical-related products to the general public and medical practitioners, as well as other goods such as toiletries, cosmetics, small medical devices, and veterinary products. The retail pharmacy deals with many prescriptions and is thus expected to drive this market. In developed countries, the high availability of healthcare schemes and programs led to a significant increase in the number of prescriptions.
Furthermore, the new agreements among the market players for distributing healthcare products in retail pharmacies likely propel the market to grow. For instance, in September 2022, McKesson Corporation signed an agreement in principle to extend its partnership with CVS Health to distribute pharmaceuticals to retail and other pharmacies and distribution centers through June 2027. Similarly, in June 2022, BD (Becton, Dickinson, and Company) and Frazier Healthcare Partners entered a definitive agreement for BD to acquire Parata Systems. It is an innovative provider of pharmacy automation solutions for hospitals, retail pharmacies, and other healthcare settings. Thus, these agreements help supply healthcare products efficiently, which is expected to boost market growth.
Moreover, the growing incidence of chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, which require prolonged medication, is directly related to increased prescriptions. It can further drive the growth of the retail pharmacy market during the forecast period. For instance, DiabetesAtlas.org 2021 reported that about 536.6 million people were estimated to suffer from diabetes in 2021, and this number will increase to 642.7 million by 2030. Thus, the high prevalence rate of chronic diseases like diabetes increases the need for various pharmaceuticals that can be procured from retail pharmacies and is expected to grow in the segment over the forecast period.
North America is Expected to hold Significant Share in the Market Over the Forecast Period
North America is expected to hold a significant market share owing to factors such as the rapid expansion of the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry, rising demand for specialty drugs and generics, and large-scale adoption of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and blockchain in the healthcare sector.
The use of artificial intelligence technology boosted distribution practices globally. For instance, the article published by the journal SAGE in September 2021 summarizes that by using Artificial intelligence technology, businesses can offer shipment updates to customers. When tracking technology fails, an (Artificial Intelligence) AI system can track the delay in the delivery so companies can easily estimate delivery time to their customers. These updates on product delivery through AI increase the distribution services and likely boost the market to growth.
Furthermore, the significant number of prescriptions in the region increases the demand for various healthcare products and distribution services. For instance, as per the report published by AssureCare LLC in November 2022, in the United States, around 6.47 billion prescriptions were dispensed in 2021, which is high and is expected to increase more over the coming years. In addition, the new regional distribution agreements increase the services and likely boost the market. For instance, in March 2023, Endonovo Therapeutics, Inc. signed a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Government Reseller Agreement (Agreement or Contract) with Academy Medical, Inc. of West Palm Beach, FL, to distribute SofPulse medical devices to ensure its availability to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Department of Defense (DoD) contracts. Thus, increasing prescriptions and new agreements to distribute healthcare products will likely raise the demand for healthcare distribution services and boost the market growth over the forecast period.
