Latin American e-commerce company MercadoLibre will test online pharmaceutical sales in Brazil through a newly acquired pharmacy, its local boss said Thursday, in the first step toward entering the country’s multibillion-dollar online medicines market.
MercadoLibre, which is based in Uruguay and is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization, already sells medicines online in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia, but not in Brazil, its largest market.
In a telephone conversation with journalists, executive Fernando Yunes confirmed recent press reports that MercadoLibre had acquired a pharmacy in Brazil, a requirement of local law for companies that sell pharmaceutical products.
Yunes said the company does not intend to build a national pharmacy chain. Another executive added that the goal is to allow small and medium-sized pharmacies to sell on the MercadoLibre e-commerce platform in Brazil, and not compete directly with pharmaceutical companies.
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“The pharmaceutical sector is the only one in Brazil that we do not operate in. It is a sector in which we see potential to improve access,” Yunes said. “We want to be a market, we want pharmacies to sell on MercadoLibre.”
Next steps will depend on how its first pharmacy performs, executives said.
MercadoLibre is also talking to Brazilian authorities to update the country’s regulation for the pharmaceutical sector, which creates operational challenges, Yunes said.
“Brazilian legislation was created a long time ago. We believe it is necessary to modernize it. This will allow pharmacies to have greater access to customers,” he added.
With information from Reuters.
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