Online pharmacy Pharmacy2U has acquired “leading veterinary online pharmacy” The PharmPet Co for “an undisclosed sum”, it announced this week (May 8).
“The acquisition aligns with Pharmacy2U's commitment to offering comprehensive consumer healthcare solutions…as it expands its portfolio to include pet health services”, the online pharmacy said.
It added that the merger “speeds up plans to give customers a holistic approach to healthcare, covering themselves and their pets in one place”.
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The deal comes after the two brands partnered in November “to deliver prescriptions to pet owners more conveniently and cost-efficiently,” it said.
Pharmacy2U’s chief of staff Gary Dannatt said that it was “easy to see” how the veterinary pharmacy would “slot neatly into our existing proposition”.
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“The deal will allow us to continue doing what we love most - improving the lives of animals - while improving access to affordable and trusted medication,” founders of The PharmPet Co brothers Neil and Phil Younger said.
“[We] are both excited to embark on this next chapter of growth as part of Pharmacy2U,” they added.
Prescription “rationale”
Meanwhile, changes to the veterinary medicines regulations set to come into force next week will limit the situations in which pharmacists can prescribe animal antibiotics.
The changes, which the government yesterday (May 9) said “will maintain the UK as an attractive place to develop and market veterinary medicines”, will apply from May 17.
The amendments ban prescribers from using antibiotics “routinely”, “to promote growth” or to “compensate for poor hygiene, inadequate animal husbandry, or poor farm management practices”.
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Commenting on the legislation update, the Pharmacy Law and Ethics Association (PLEA) said last week (May 1) that it will mean all “prescribers – including vets and pharmacists – will have to record their rationale for issuing a prescription, including a verbal prescription”.
It comes as C+D today reported that the government told pharmacists they could “learn a lesson” from vets on reducing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
“There is an opportunity to learn from the collaborative, voluntary approach taken to improve antimicrobial use in the veterinary sector,” it said.
