CHRISTIAN POLICENO AND GUILHERME W. ALMEIDASÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) - Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) paved the way to allow delivery apps such as iFood and Rappi and platforms such as Mercado Livre, Americanas and Shopee to sell medicines.
Anvisa opens the way for pharmacies to sell medicines on Ifood, Rappi and marketplaces
CHRISTIAN POLICENO AND GUILHERME W. ALMEIDASÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) - Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) paved the way to allow delivery apps such as iFood and Rappi and platforms such as Mercado Livre, Americanas and Shopee to...
The regulatory agency published, on Monday (10), the revocation of internal resolutions that barred sales on Rappi, Ifood, Mercado Livre, B2W (Americanas) and Shopee). The platforms, however, will only be able to start offering the medicines after specific rules have been defined.
- According to Anvisa's press office, there is no expected date for the publication of the standard regulating the topic.
- Existing instructions, such as the resolution on good pharmaceutical practices, must be followed by marketplaces, the agency said.
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These companies will be able to advertise, market and deliver medicines, but pharmacies and drugstores will continue to be the only ones authorized to store, dispense (the act in which the pharmacist provides the medicine and advises the patient on its use) and the relationship with laboratories.
The regulatory agency published, on Monday (10), the revocation of internal resolutions that barred sales on Rappi, Ifood, Mercado Livre, B2W (Americanas) and Shopee).
The platforms, however, will only be able to start offering the medicines after specific rules have been defined. According to Anvisa's press office, there is no expected date for the publication of the standard regulating the topic.
Existing instructions, such as the resolution on good pharmaceutical practices, must be followed by marketplaces, the agency said. Selling special control medications (which act on the central nervous system or generate dependence), for example, remains prohibited, unless the specific rule stipulates otherwise.
According to Anvisa, the measures were revoked after "formal questions" presented to the agency, after the federal government sanctioned, in March, the law that authorized the installation of pharmacies and drugstores in supermarket sales areas.
"What changes for applications that do not have all these licenses is that they carry out the intermediation part between pharmacy and consumer and the delivery of medicines", says lawyer Gustavo Caetano, partner in the Life Sciences and Health area at the Mattos Filho office.
The model is different from that adopted by some supermarkets that opened drugstores in their units and started selling products directly in these establishments.
The change occurs at a time of expansion in the presence of medicines in retail. The Assaí supermarket chain already plans to open 25 pharmacy units within its stores in 2026, with the promise of selling medicines at lower prices than those charged by drugstores.
Mercado Livre already sells over-the-counter medicines, such as painkillers and antipyretics, antacids and digestives and vitamins in a pilot project, which for now covers part of the city's metropolitan region, covering points such as Vila Mariana, Paraíso and Itaim. The commercialization was made possible after the marketplace acquired, in September 2025, its first physical pharmacy in Brazil. The company acquired Cuidamos Farma, an establishment located in Jabaquara, in the south of São Paulo.
Sérgio Barreto, CEO of Abrafarma (Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Chains), stated that responsibility for sales and pharmaceutical assistance must remain with regularly licensed pharmacies and drugstores.
"Medicines are not common goods, and no commercialization model can reduce the safeguards necessary to protect the population's health," said the executive.
The revocations were applied individually to each company. On Thursday (6), Anvisa had already revoked a preventive measure that prohibited the sale of medicines on the Shopee platform.
Rappi stated that it sees Anvisa's decision as a "positive step", which brings greater legal certainty to the sector and updates the regulatory framework in light of the evolution of new technologies.
Shopee said it considers Anvisa's decision positive and stated that the sale of medicines on its marketplace will be allowed exclusively by licensed pharmacies and drugstores.
Mercado Livre stated that it welcomes Anvisa's decision positively and that the measure "privileges free competition and represents an advance towards the modernization of the health sector and the democratization of access to medicines in Brazil".
iFood said it follows the revocation of Anvisa's measures and reinforces its commitment to health legislation. The company stated that it does not seek to replace pharmacies, but to connect licensed establishments, consumers and delivery people through specialized technology.
"The company does not buy, stock or resell medicines. Sales and dispensing remain the full responsibility of partner pharmacies, and the pharmacist maintains his irreplaceable role", said the company in a statement.
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