Farmasiet’s only physical pharmacy is located in a slightly secluded commercial area in Vestby in Follo. According to founder Stig Henning Pedersen from Sandefjord, only two customers have visited the pharmacy since the opening in 2021. And it is now over a year since the last customer visit. The outlet only exists because the Norwegian Pharmacy Act requires that online pharmacies must have physical outlets. As the pharmacy appears, Farmasiet does the least possible to attract customers there. – Wasting money The pharmacy in Vestby in Follo must be available to customers on weekdays between 09.00 and 15.30. But those who work there also have other tasks in the online pharmacy. – It is a waste of money to establish and furnish a pharmacy for customers you know will not come, says Pedersen. Farmasiet’s management believes this is one of several outdated rules that hinder competition, and lead to unnecessarily high prices for over-the-counter medicines in Norway. Have to buy goods from competitors What the pharmacy reacts most to is that they have to buy in all medicines from their biggest competitors. The three large international chains Apotek1, Vitusapotek and Boots are also the only three approved wholesalers in the country. The wholesalers of pharmaceuticals in Norway are required to be able to deliver pharmaceuticals to pharmacies throughout the country within 24 hours. This rule makes it practically impossible for others to start up their own wholesale business, Pedersen believes. – If we establish a wholesaler today, we risk that tomorrow there will be orders from all over Norway. From fifty different pharmacies controlled by our competitors, who ask us to send an item here and there. Pedersen explains that they may then be forced to send transports to, for example, Hammerfest, Molde and Kristiansand with two items in each package. – It goes without saying that it can cause big losses for us, says Pedersen. Paracetamol for ten kroner The rule against advertising price offers on over-the-counter medicines is another rule that the Pharmacies are not happy with. The online pharmacy was met with strong reactions when in 2020 they ran a campaign with Norway’s best-selling drug, Paracet, at ten kroner per box. Senior researcher at Oslo Met, Siv Skarstein, stated, among other things, to Dagbladet that this was very unfortunate and not at all good for public health. The reason was that many people already use too much over-the-counter painkillers. – This will probably lead to further increased consumption, she stated in October 2020. But this rule also makes it possible for large players to keep high prices, believes Stig Henning Pedersen in Farmasiet. – Many Norwegian consumers do not know that there are alternatives that are more affordable than others, he says. The number of physical pharmacies in Norway has increased significantly in recent years. The pharmacy association believes the main principles should remain. Photo: Scanpix The Norwegian Competition Authority is also concerned with price information in the pharmacy industry. They are critical of continuing an advertising ban. – The Norwegian Competition Authority cannot see that there is a documented connection between a low price and increased abuse, and therefore wants the opportunity to advertise on price to be opened up, they write in a press release. Much more online sales in Sweden Farmasiet is not the only independent online pharmacy that wants major changes to the pharmacy act in Norway. The Swedish online pharmacy Apotera, which has also invested in Norway, feels that it is far worse for a newcomer to establish itself here than in Sweden. There, far more pharmacy products are sold online compared to physical outlets. According to the managing director of Apotera, Patrick Hjetland, online sales account for around 20 per cent of the sale of pharmaceuticals in Sweden, compared to only a couple of per cent in Norway. – We are extremely far behind. Much of the reason probably lies in the regulation, Hjetland believes. Believes the pharmacy system is working well. Farmasiet and Apotera have recorded the demand for changes during a recently concluded consultation round for a new pharmacy act. The established players in the pharmacy industry, on the other hand, want to retain the main principles in the current regulations. In the Apotekforeningen, most of the member pharmacies are owned by the large chains. They believe that the current arrangements work well. – There is high delivery reliability, and we actually have among the lowest prices for prescription drugs in Europe, says business policy director of the Apotekforeningen, Thor-Arne Englund. – An important reason for the low prices is that Norway has three large wholesalers who operate efficiently, who compete and who have economies of scale that customers can benefit from, Englund points out. The Apotekforeningen receives support from the committee that has investigated the current pharmacy act. They emphasize that the current rules have led to an increase in the number of pharmacies and good access to medicines in large parts of the country. According to the committee, major changes can also reduce the security of supply of pharmaceuticals in Norway, because the market becomes less interesting for the major players. Truls Vasvik in the Labor Party expects that the ministry will assess whether the competition between the various chains is good enough today or whether changes need to be made. Photo: JOHN-ANDRE SAMUELSEN / news It is the politicians in the Storting who will ultimately decide whether there will be changes to the Pharmacy Act. Truls Vasvik speaks on behalf of the Labor Party and will not advance any changes. – Here it is necessary to have several thoughts in the head at the same time, says Vasvik, who is a member of the health and care committee. – It is important that the prices sold to the consumer are low, at the same time it is important that the whole country has equal access to medicines and pharmacy products, he says. Big losses While Farmasiet waits for the politicians to consider the new pharmacy act, they still have to keep sales alive in Vestby. Until now, it has not been very lucrative to challenge the international chains in the pharmacy industry in Norway. Stig Henning Pedersen helped start an online pharmacy in Sandefjord under the name Komplett Apotek. The name was changed to Farmasiet after Komplett owner Stein Erik Hagen sold out of the online pharmacy. Photo: Tom Ole Buaas Since the start, Farmasiet has spent NOK 276 million on building up the online pharmacy. Although the turnover has increased a lot, the figures are still red after almost ten years. That was not the plan when they started up in Sandefjord with the Komplett group behind them in 2014. The same year that online pharmacies were allowed in Norway. – We started from the fact that online pharmacies were something that Norwegian consumers wanted and that the authorities encouraged. It has gone slower than we thought and the cheers have not been as many as we hoped for, Stig Henning Pedersen realizes.
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This pharmacy has only had two customers in three years – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
