(The) viability of online pharmacies and safety regulations : globally and in South Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study examines the characteristics of online pharmacies and possible policy directions for countries in which online pharmacies are not yet permitted. Factors governing physical and online pharmacies, pharmacy and e-commerce related regulations, and drug classification systems—particularly the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO)—in fourteen countries were surveyed based on e-commerce indices and the number of internet users. The regulatory environments, distribution systems, and industrial ecosystems related to online medicine sales in South Korea were also analyzed to determine why online pharmacies are not yet permitted. The survey results show that eleven of the fourteen countries permit online pharmacies. A survey of the scales of the e-commerce, health/beauty, and online pharmacy markets by country showed that the United States has the highest share in the entire e-commerce and online pharmacy market. However, China’s share in the business to consumer (B2C) market and the health/beauty market are first globally. Despite the rapid growth of the online pharmacy market, markets in the surveyed countries had a B2C market share of less than 2%. When classifying individual countries according to the sales restrictions imposed by the US GAO, South Korea’s classification system was shown to be similar to that of China. If countries where online pharmacies are not yet permitted such as South Korea prepare response systems similar to the structures of countries in the GAO classification system, they may be able to contribute to the maintenance of stable medicine management systems once online pharmacies are permitted. Therefore, it is time for the South Korean government to consider seriously allowing online pharmacies in the trend of allowing global online pharmacies. To enhance the competitiveness of the nation`s pharmaceutical market, the Korean government must address the challenges required to minimize the threat posed by allowing online pharmacies.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. Introduction 5
• 2. Countries selected for the survey and selection criteria of countries surveyed 10
• 3. Results of the surveys 12
• 3.1. Health environment indicators by country 12
• 3.2. Scale of online e-commerce and online medicine sales 14
• 3.3. Classification of medicine sales and result of countries surveyed 19
• 4. Regulatory environment of online medicine sales in South Korea 26
• 4.1. Controversies and change of regulations related to online medicine sales and in South Korea 26
• 4.2. Pharmaceutical market and online industrial environments in South Korea 27
• 5. Discussion 31
• 5.1. Comparison with GAO classification results and similarity of indicators by country surveyed 31
• 5.2. Future perspectives of online pharmacies and challenges for South Korea 33
• 5.3. The viability of online pharmacies and potential of market growth 36
• 6. Conclusion 40