The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the planned creation of a joint venture by Essen-based NOWEDA Apothekengenossenschaft eG and Burda Verlag GmbH, Munich under merger control law. NOWEDA is an association of several thousand pharmacies active in the area of pharmaceutical wholesale. It operates the portal “IhreApotheken.de” that facilitates online orders of pharmaceuticals from local pharmacies via a central platform. Burda is a publishing house whose publications include medical information for the wider public (“mylife”, netdoctor.de).

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “We have no concerns regarding Burda’s participation in NOWEDA. The project is in line with the trend of linking health information with a mail order pharmacy platform in an attempt to develop comprehensive digital health platforms. NOWEDA’s “IhreApotheken.de” platform is in intensive competition with other pharmacy and health platforms, e.g. with pure mail-order pharmacies or “gesund.de” operated by Phoenix and Noventi. Pharmacies in the NOWEDA association remain free in their choice of platform. Especially in this early market phase, it is important to allow consumers and pharmacies to use several platforms in parallel and switch platforms if required.”

NOWEDA is one of the leading pharmaceutical wholesalers in Germany and has been operating the pharmacy platform “IhreApotheken.de” already since 2019. Among other functions, the platform shows users the closest participating pharmacies. Users can search for products, but they cannot directly compare prices, as the prices are only displayed after a specific pharmacy has been selected. Prescriptions can be submitted on paper or as electronic prescriptions. Delivery terms, i.e. pick-up or delivery by courier, are agreed individually with each pharmacy.

Burda Media Group is already involved in the digital transformation process of brick-and-mortar pharmacies together with NOWEDA in the context of the “Zukunftspakt Apotheke” (pact for the future of pharmacies). Their activities are to be pooled under the umbrella of the joint venture. It is too early to conclusively assess these and other pharmacy and health platforms under competition law. This will also depend on the future design and actual operation of the platforms.

Background information:

The gradual introduction of the electronic prescription as of this year will significantly boost innovation in the sale of pharmaceuticals. Some even expect the electronic prescription to be a game changer. Quick electronic submission, prompt courier services and pick-up machines could increase the service level. Different players are currently developing digital offers in this area. In late 2020 the Bundeskartellamt cleared the creation of the digital health platform “gesund.de” by Phoenix and Noventi, which cooperates with the publishing house Wort & Bild (publisher of the journal Apotheken-Umschau) (see press release of 21 December 2020).