 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2021) |
Pharmacies of Norway are dominated by the three large companies Alliance Boots, Apokjeden and Norsk Medisinaldepot. In total there are 606 pharmacies, of which only 16 do not belong to the four dominant chains Apotek 1, Vitusapotek, Boots apotek and Ditt Apotek. 33 pharmacies are state owned as pharmaceutical trusts.
After the Pharmacy Act then was enforced on March 1, 2001, anyone could own a pharmacy. This has resulted in three corporate chains as well as one for independent stores, including 33 hospital pharmacies and 16 independent outlets. Of the 606 pharmacies, 480 are owned by the chains, 33 are owned by the pharmaceutical trusts, 47 are franchises while 16 are independent. Only 25 pharmacies, owned by 20 pharmacists, are not partially owned by the chains.
The three largest chains are vertical owned by the wholesalers while Ditt Apotek is a franchise concept owned by Norsk Medisinaldepot. All the hospital pharmacies use Alliance Healthcare as supplier.
The four regional health authorities each own a pharmaceutical trust, organized as a health trust, that manages hospital pharmacies. But some hospitals instead use commercial pharmacies that are part of the chains. All 33 hospital pharmacies belong to Ditt Apotek. Total revenue in 2006 was NOK 3.5 billion.
The first pharmacy in Norway was Svaneapoteket in Bergen in 1595, followed by Svaneapoteket in Oslo in 1628, Hygiea in Stavanger in 1650, elefantapoteket in Kristiansand in 1651 and Løveapoteket in Trondheim in 1661. The first pharmacies received royal permit when they were established, and in 1600 it was decided that only private individuals trained as pharmacists could own a pharmacy, and would receive a monopoly in their area. This concept was kept for more than 400 years.
The first dispansasion from this was given in 1856 when Rikshospitalet was given permission to establish a hospital pharmacy owned by the state. In 1950 a general permission for the state and municipalities to own hospital pharmacies was given. In 1957 the government created Norsk Medisinaldepot (NMD) that was granted the sole rights for wholesale of pharmaceutics in Norway, replacing five private wholesalers. The pharmacists on their hand owned the wholesaler of medical products, Apotekernes Fællesindkjøp, that was acquired by NMD in 1992.
The first deregulation was of the wholesalers in 1995. This resulted in two competitors of NMD entering the country, Apokjeden, at first owned by the pharmacists and later by Finnish Tamro, and Alliance Unichem. NMD was at first partially privatized in 1997, and then fully sold to Celesio in 2001.
On March 1, 2001 a new law was passed giving the right for anyone to own a pharmacy, with the exception of medical doctors and the pharmaceutical industry. Norway went with this from having one of the most regulated to the least regulated pharmacy markets in Europe. This resulted in a huge consolidation of the pharmacy market, with vertical integration of the wholesalers and retailers. By 2007 84% of all pharmacies are wholly owned by the three wholesalers, and only 16 pharmacies remain outside the chains. At the same time the number of pharmacies has increased from about 400 to more than 600. The dominating new establishments are occurring as establishments close to established pharmacies, and is very little degree in areas without pharmacies.
Alliance Healthcare, formerly Alliance UniChem, is a wholesaler, distributer and retailer of pharmaceutical, surgical, medical, and healthcare products throughout Europe. The company supplies more than 110,000 pharmacies, doctors, health centres, and hospitals from over 288 distribution centres in 11 countries.
McKesson Europe AG, with its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, is a leading international wholesale and retail company and provider of logistics and services in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. The company had around 37,000 employees at the end of the 2019 financial year and is represented in 13 countries in Europe. In the 2019 financial year the company achieved a turnover of EUR 21.18 billion. The majority shareholder of the company is the US-based McKesson Corporation, which holds a share of 77.01%. The remaining 22.99% of shares are available on the open market. Kevin Kettler, a US citizen, has been Chairman of McKesson Europe since 1 November 2018.
Cencora, Inc., formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, is an American drug wholesale company and a contract research organization that was formed by the merger of Bergen Brunswig and AmeriSource in 2001.
Alliance Boots was a multinational pharmacy-led health and beauty group with corporate headquarters in Bern, Switzerland and operational headquarters in Nottingham and Weybridge, United Kingdom.
Health trust or HF is a health enterprise owned by one of the four regional health authorities in Norway, with responsibility for performing a geographic and/or specialist activities of operations on behalf of the regional health authority. There are 43 HFs in Norway, each led by a board of directors appointed by the authority. Most HFs are responsible for one or more hospitals, though some are solely responsible for pharmacies. The trusts are regulated by the Health Trust Act of 15 June 2001.
Norsk Medisinaldepot AS is a pharmaceutics and healthcare products wholesaler in Norway. It also operates the pharmacy chains Vitusapotek and the franchise chain Ditt Apotek. NMD is part of the McKesson group and has approximately 300 pharmacies in Norway. The company is based in Oslo.
Apotekernes Fællesindkjøp was a Norwegian wholesaler company owned by the pharmacies that provided them with healthcare products. The company was bought in 1992 by the state owned Norsk Medisinaldepot who at the time was the sole wholesaler of pharmaceuticals in the country.
Vitusapotek is a chain of 300 pharmacies in Norway owned and run by Norsk Medisinaldepot, a subsidiary of McKesson Europe. The pharmacy chain is based in Oslo, and is the second largest in Norway, after Apotek1.
Ditt Apotek is a chain of 80 pharmacies owned and run by independent pharmacists on franchise from Norsk Medisinaldepot, a subsidiary of McKesson Europe. The chain is the fourth largest, and thus smallest, in Norway. The chain was established in 2001 after the deregulation of the pharmacy market in Norway. The sister company Vitusapotek operates 133 pharmacies owned by the mother company.
Apotek 1 Gruppen AS is a Norwegian pharmacy wholesaler and retailer owned by German Phoenix Pharmahandel. It owns the largest pharmacy chain in Norway, Apotek 1. The company started a cooperation with a number of pharmacists who wanted a wholesaler independent of the state owned Norsk Medisinaldepot in 1995, when most pharmacies in the country joined the company. 1997 saw the first attempts to brand the pharmacies, as Plussapotek. The first branded pharmacy as Apotek 1 was launched in 1999 in Manglerud Senter. In 2001, the pharmacy market was deregulated, and Tamro was at first chosen as a wholesaler, before eventually buying the entire company in 2004.
Central Norway Pharmaceutical Trust is a health trust owned by Central Norway Regional Health Authority that operates four hospital pharmacies at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Kristiansund Hospital, Molde Hospital and Ålesund Hospital. The pharmacies are part of the Ditt Apotek chain and use Norsk Medisinaldepot as wholesaler. The hospitals in Levanger, Namsos and Orkanger do not use the trust for their pharmacies.
Western Norway Pharmaceutical Trust is a health trust owned by Western Norway Regional Health Authority that operates four hospital pharmacies at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Stavanger Hospital, Haugesund Hospital and Førde Hospital. The pharmacies are part of the Ditt Apotek chain and use Norsk Medisinaldepot as wholesaler.
Southern and Eastern Norway Pharmaceutical Trust is a health trust owned by Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority that operates nineteen hospital pharmacies. The pharmacies are part of the Ditt Apotek chain and use Norsk Medisinaldepot as wholesaler.
Hospital Pharmacy of North Norway Trust is a health trust owned by Northern Norway Regional Health Authority that operates six hospital pharmacies. The pharmacies are part of the Ditt Apotek chain and use Norsk Medisinaldepot as wholesaler.
Ornella Barra is an Italian-born Monegasque businesswoman. A qualified pharmacist, she is chief operating officer, international of Walgreens Boots Alliance. She is married to the Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina.
Boots UK Limited, trading as Boots, is a British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom. It also operates internationally, including Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Malta, Thailand and Indonesia.
Steinar Stokke is a Norwegian businessperson and former civil servant, with prominent positions in the health sector.
Kronans Droghandel Apotek AB, doing business as Kronans Apotek, is a Swedish pharmacy company. The pharmacy chain is owned by the Finnish company Oriola Oyj-KD, which is listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Kronans Apotek has 326 pharmacies across Sweden, and over 65,000 customer visits per day.
Swan pharmacy or Svaneapoteket in Bergen, Norway is the oldest pharmacy in Norway. It was established in 1595. The original building burned down in a fire in 1916 and it was rebuilt by the architects Fredrik Arnesen and Darre Kaarbø. A replica of the metal swan at the entrance still stands above its entrance in Strandgaten.
| General | |
|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical sciences | |
| Professions | |
| Practice areas | |
| Pharmaceutical industry | |
