Brazil boasts nearly 100,000 pharmacies — more than any other country. Saturation does not mean stability: supermarkets want to sell medicines, while digital giants such as Mercado Livre (MELI) and Amazon (AMZN) could redraw the sector, repeating the disruption they have brought to other markets.
The Senate is set to vote on a bill allowing supermarkets to sell medicines, provided they are kept in a separate area and overseen by a pharmacist. The measure seeks to balance competition with safety, but in a country where self-medication causes thousands of deaths and hospitalizations each year, the side effects could be serious.
In this setting, Mercado Livre’s purchase of Cuidados Farma in São Paulo is just a trial run. If cleared by antitrust regulators, it could become a logistics hub, replicating the formula that crushed small retailers. Amazon already knows the recipe.
Pharmacy chains’ stocks took a hit: Raia Drogasil -7%, Pague Menos -4%, Panvel -1%. The present looks solid, but the market already sees the risk of disruption. With nearly 100,000 pharmacies, Brazil seemed to have no room left. But digital platforms always find room on the shelf.
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