(Bloomberg) -- And just like that, another Internet giant is stepping into health care.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said it's teaming up with AstraZeneca Plc in an effort to improve health services in China, the U.K.-based drugmaker's second-largest market. Coming just days after a pledge by Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to collaborate on new approaches to their employees' health care, the move highlights the enthusiasm for bringing the customer contact and data collection of online retail to the pharma industry.
Alibaba said consumers will be able to scan the health codes on the package of medicines, giving clients more medical information and allowing to improve disease management. The companies aim to serve more than 1 million patients in China this year.
The specter of Amazon's purchasing and distribution power sent shock waves through pharmacy-benefit managers' and insurers' shares earlier this week. Drugmakers, for their part, say e-commerce providers will help them bring useful information to customers, while tracking compliance with treatment regimens and measuring the benefits of medicines.
The technology offers the possibility to “demonstrate the value of our products from an outcomes viewpoint,” Astra Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said Thursday on a call with reporters. “If you have cost-effective medicines, you're in a good place.”
Astra will also use Alibaba's artificial intelligence research to help diagnose metabolic disorders and other diseases.
To contact the reporter on this story: John Lauerman in London at jlauerman@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Thomas Mulier, John J. Edwards III
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
