Destination points: Ozon may start selling medicines through the PVZ
The Ozon marketplace plans to enter the pharmacy segment, in particular, it is exploring the possibility of issuing orders with medicines through a medical device and creating its own network of pharmacies, Izvestia learned. The company has already registered the trademarks "Ozon Pharmacy" and "Ozon Vetapteka" and is testing courier home delivery of over-the-counter medications in its application. Based on its results, a decision will be made on further scaling, including the issuance of orders to the PVZ, the company noted. At the same time, the marketplace has already discussed with contractors the development and concept of a pharmacy point. The demand for medicines is stable, and the launch of projects in this niche may become a new growth driver for online platforms, experts believe. Izvestia investigated how marketplaces are developing the pharmacy segment and what legislative barriers they face.
Why do marketplaces need pharmacies?
Ozon is considering entering the market of offline and online drug sales. The partner of the site, as well as a source familiar with the discussion, told Izvestia about the company's plans to create its own network of pharmacies.
According to one of them, "some time ago" Ozon discussed with potential contractors the terms of reference for the development of a pharmacy concept. We can talk about both our own outlets and a franchising model, said a top manager of a large pharmaceutical company who is aware of the trading platform's plans. According to him, the marketplace has long considered the possibility of launching such a project.
At the end of March 2026, Ozon applied for registration of the designations "Ozon Pharmacy" and "Ozon Vetapteka" in classes 09, 35, 39 and 44 of the International Classification of Goods and Services (ICTS) — pharmacy services, wholesale and retail sales of medicines, and home delivery, according to Rospatent data.
They are registered to launch home delivery of over-the-counter medications, an Ozon representative explained to Izvestia. According to him, medicines will be stored in specially equipped storage facilities operating on a model similar to darkstore, from which couriers will deliver online orders. Moreover, goods are allowed on display "only after checking pharmaceutical licenses and all permits," said a company representative. Based on the results of the pilot project, the marketplace will decide on further scaling, including issuing orders at points of sale, the source said.
Ozon is one of the largest multicategory marketplaces, founded in 1998 as an online store selling books and videotapes. It operates in 10 countries around the world, including Russia, China and Turkey, offering customers a wide range of products in various product categories.
According to the results of the first quarter of 2026, the group's revenue under IFRS amounted to 300 billion rubles, 49% more than in the same period a year earlier, adjusted EBITDA (reflects earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation) increased 1.5 times to 48.7 billion rubles, net profit amounted to 4.5 billion rubles against a loss in 7.8 billion rubles a year earlier, follows from the reports.
Who else is developing their pharmacy services
Non-core players have been showing interest in the pharmacy market for a long time, said Nikolay Bespalov, Executive Director of RNC Pharma. According to Anna Litvinenko, partner of the Corporate Finance practice at Strategy Partners, this is largely due to the active digitalization of the industry. According to the DSM Group, in the first quarter of 2026, the share of online drug sales reached 16.8% (+0.9 percentage points compared to 2025). RNC Pharma gives an estimate of 28.2%.
In August 2025, Yandex launched the Yandex Pharmacies delivery service, operating in more than 200 cities, and Wildberries integrated the Eapteki range into its platform (owned by the structures of the founder of R-Pharma, Alexander Repik). In addition, Magnit retailer is developing Magnit Pharmacy: the network unites about 1,100 outlets and plans to launch at least 100 new ones this year, Anna Litvinenko noted.
Major marketplaces have not previously opened their own pharmacy outlets. Entering this segment will allow them to strengthen their presence on the pharmaceutical market in an environment where the remote sale of prescription drugs is still limited by law, believes a top manager of a large pharmaceutical company.
The experiment on the remote sale of such drugs took place from March 1, 2023 to March 1, 2026 in Moscow, Moscow and Belgorod regions. In May, the head of Roszdravnadzor, Alla Samoilova, said that its results "have their positive aspects," so the experiment can be extended to the whole country.
But there is no final decision on this issue yet, says a top manager at a large pharmaceutical company. According to him, the main issue remains the issue of controlling the turnover of prescription drugs. The Ministry of Health is already working on a bill under which "it will be completely impossible to buy a drug if there is no electronic prescription," said Alla Samoilova. At the same time, the remote sale of prescription drugs is not yet being considered, a source close to Ozon said.
The role of marketplaces in the categories of beauty and health products is consistently growing, Nikolai Bespalov emphasized. For example, sales of over—the-counter medicines at Ozon in 2025 exceeded 5.8 million packages for a total of 3.3 billion rubles, which is 17.4% and 21% higher, respectively, than a year earlier, according to RNC P'harma.
In total, in January – March, sales of medicines in packages amounted to 1.8 billion, which is 3.7% less than in the same period a year earlier, the Center for Advanced Technology Development (CRPT), the operator of the Honest Sign labeling system, estimated. At the same time, the market grew by 10% in money, to 814.7 billion rubles.
Experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that the development of online platforms in the pharmacy segment will continue. Now there are almost no areas where the role of the online format would be reduced, said Nikolai Bespalov. Additional interest in the market ensures stable demand for pharmaceutical products, which makes it attractive to large ecosystems, Anna Litvinenko added. According to her, in the coming years, against this background, the consolidation of the segment around large networks will continue, as well as the presence of non-core players will increase. Already in the first quarter of 2026, federal chains controlled 51.1% of the pharmacy market in terms of the number of outlets, according to data from the DSM Group.
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