Boots last week (September 26) announced the launch of its “own brand” erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment in a “UK pharmacy medicine first”.
The treatment - “Sildenafil Orodispersible Film 50mg” – has been designed to “[dissolve] rapidly on the tongue” and contains the same active ingredient as Viagra, the health and beauty giant said.
It added that the medication, which was developed in partnership with Swiss pharmaceutical company IBSA, is now available both online and “in selected stores”.
Read more: LATEST: Hub-and-spoke dispensing start date revealed
According to Boots, the treatment “uses innovative oral film technology that dissolves on the tongue within seconds of use” without the need for water.
It is available “without prescription” but patients must complete either an in-store “consultation with a pharmacist” or “an assessment” online to ensure the medicine “is appropriate for them”, it added.
Boots consumer health and wellness director Richard Stead stressed that this “first of its kind” treatment offers customers “a new and accessible format for the treatment of ED”.
“State-of-the-art” hub
It comes as the pharmacy multiple last week (September 25) also revealed that it had opened its first “regional dispensing hub”.
The “20,000-square-foot” facility in Basingstoke, Hampshire, is set to “make the repeat prescription ordering process faster and more seamless for customers in 150 stores in the south of England”, Boots said.
These stores will be “gradually onboarded between now and April 2026”, it added, noting that Boots also has plans to “open more regional dispensing hubs in the future”.
Read more: Government to introduce hub-and-spoke regs in ‘the coming weeks’
The hub will use “state-of-the-art digital technology and automation to dispense repeat prescriptions centrally rather than in stores”, with medicines “delivered from the hub to stores within 24 hours of a prescription being issued”, it said.
According to the retailer, “a total of 50 new Boots roles will be created” at the hub, including “pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and dispensing operatives”.
“As part of this, Boots will help those looking to kickstart a career in healthcare with a dispensing operative qualification through an NVQ Level 2 qualification,” it said.
“Pharmacy transformation journey”
The opening of Boots’ first regional dispensing hub “represents a significant milestone” in the retailer’s “pharmacy transformation journey”, it said.
“By reducing the time spent on manual dispensing”, in-store pharmacy teams will have greater capacity to “deliver a wider variety of healthcare services in-store [and] foster closer collaboration with local GPs”, it added.
Boots pharmacy director Anne Higgins said that “this transformation is centred on empowering [Boots’] talented pharmacy teams to spend more time directly with their customers”.
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“Warmly welcomed by our pharmacists, the regional dispensing hub allows them to further expand the healthcare services they can offer…and provide even more opportunities to develop their clinician skills and advance their careers with us,” she added.
Higgins said that Boots hopes to “grow [its] pharmacy business by offering an unrivalled experience to customers - blending the expertise of our pharmacists with the latest technology”.
It comes after Community Pharmacy England (CPE) revealed in April that the government had laid legislative amendments that will permit hub-and-spoke dispensing for community pharmacies that are different legal entities by the end of next month.
