The RD Saúde group, owner of the Raia and Drogasil chains and leader in national pharmaceutical retail, obtained a license to produce and sell more than 20 over-the-counter (OTC) drug molecules. The sale is expected to begin in 2026.
The news was released this Monday (1st) during RD Day, the company’s event with investors, in São Paulo. The company also announced the creation of a beauty space in pharmacies, and the first should be opened in a store in Barueri, Greater São Paulo, in the second quarter of next year.
The medicines will be launched under the Bwell own brand of vitamin supplements, which hit the market in 2023 and has actress Ana Paula Arosio as its poster girl.
The new business began to be structured in 2023. Last year, the group hired suppliers, obtained approval from Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) and began testing the first formula, paracetamol, an analgesic and antipyretic.
According to RD Saúde, private brand paracetamol reached 12% of sales in the category. In total, the more than 20 molecules that will be produced under the Bwell brand represent around 16% of the group’s OTC sales.
Formulas such as dipyrone monohydrate 500 mg/ml (“relief from pain and fever”), dipyrone monohydrate 330 mg + caffeine 50 mg + orphenadrine citrate 35 mg (“muscle relaxant”), dipyrone monohydrate 300 mg + isometheptene mucate 30g + caffeine 30g (“relief from headaches”) and scopolamine butylbromide are planned. 6.67mg/ml + dipyrone 333.4 mg/ml (“abdominal pain and cramps”).
FROM COMPETITOR TO SUPERMARKET PARTNER
RD Saúde’s move comes at a time when competition between pharmaceutical retail and food retail regarding the sale of medicines is intensifying. Supermarkets want to sell medicines without prescriptions in their stores, something provided for in bill 2,158/2023, approved in September. The PL provides for complete pharmacies within supermarkets, which will only be able to operate if there is a pharmacist in charge during all opening hours.
The release had been supported by Abras (Brazilian Association of Supermarkets) and rejected by Abrafarma (Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Chains), which brings together the 29 largest national chains.
Now, with RD Saúde’s initiative to manufacture, via third parties, its own OTC medicines, the group becomes a supplier to supermarkets. The total sale of medicines in Brazil, involving prescription and non-prescription medicines, amounts to around R$200 billion per year.
