Chain pharmacies are facing a major change. Chain expansion is up in the air

According to the amendment of the Polish Pharmaceutical Law drafted by members of the Polish Parliament, as early as next year, only pharmacists will be eligible for licenses to run pharmacies and, what is more, a pharmacist will be allowed to run not more than four pharmacies in a chain. What is more, the draft amendment assumes changes in a spatial distribution of pharmacies, with one pharmacy per 3,000 residents and the minimum distance between pharmacies or pharmaceutical points should not be shorter than 1km. According to the draft, as soon as the Pharmaceutical Law is adopted, only pharmacists with the right to practice the profession and operate as sole traders, will be eligible for licenses to run pharmacies. Other eligible entities will also be some Polish civil law-based partnerships and, specifically: general partnership or professional partnership, whose sole business is running pharmacies and having only pharmacist with the right to practice the profession as partners,