What happened?
Federgy, the union chamber of groups and brands, has announced the upcoming launch of its digital portal for services and online sales of medicines. Open to all community pharmacies, it aims to provide a local service while offering digital services adapted to the changing needs and practices of patients.
This site, called My pharmacy in France, will offer, from the first quarter of 2025, a wide range of solutions, starting with home delivery of prescription drugs, but also the online sale of non-prescription drugs, parapharmacy and medical devices. . The site will also make it possible to relay public health messages, make appointments for vaccinations and prevention tests, and finally view on-call pharmacies.
Led by Federgy, the project was developed in conjunction with La Poste to secure the delivery of medicines. The Union of Community Pharmacists Groups (UDGPO), the National Collective of Community Pharmacists Groups (CNGPO) and the Union of Community Pharmacists Unions (USPO) also joined the think tank in order to bring the project to as many people as possible.
Key dates
- Early 2024: My pharmacy in France is entering the testing phase.
- July 23: La Poste announces that it is joining forces with Ma pharmacie in France.
- September 10: the delivery company Livmed’s expresses its annoyance at this competition and registers the domain name MaPharmacieEnFrance.fr as well as several variations of this name.
- Early 2025 : official opening of My pharmacy in France.
What does this change for pharmacists?
Concretely, the application will allow each member pharmacy to create a virtual showcase specifying the stock and price of available items. The patient will choose their pharmacy via their computer or smartphone and place an order with them. Two options will then present themselves: click and collect or a delivery service. Concerning prescription medications, the patient can send their prescription via the portal’s secure messaging. The pharmacist can dispense at home or have the medications delivered in a sealed package.
The contribution has not yet been fully determined, but should be less than €50 per month.
“We must take our destiny into our own hands”
President of Federgy, Alain Grollaud takes stock of the new distance selling tool “My pharmacy in France”.
At a time when Amazon and Uber are showing interest in the sale of medicines, how do you imagine facing these two behemoths of online sales?
We must take charge of our destiny and not let third parties do it for us. In the mind of the legislator, the online sale of medicines can only be the “virtual showcase” of an existing community pharmacy open to the public. We cannot do everything and anything when it comes to medications.
My pharmacy in France will be a sales portal, but also a communication portal. For what ?
Communication is a key condition for the success of business transformation. Through Ma pharmacie en France, we want to help transmit public health messages to patients to better inform them.
Your portal does not only make people happy, like the company Livmed’s which registered the domain name MaPharmacieEnFrance.fr to put obstacles in your way. What will your response be?
There will be no response. This company’s reaction is regrettable, but it is only about the domain name. This doesn’t change much for us.
