Executive Summary

Although only six-months old, the cyber drugstore industry has generated considerable publicity and made a big impression on investors. Three major players--PlanetRx.com., drugstore.com & Soma.com-- have emerged thus far, and are engaged in a furious battle to quickly gain market share. The first major hurdle that these companies must clear is signing on third party payers, many of which own or have exclusive relationships with mail order prescription services. But the biggest challenge facing PlanetRx and its competitors is to establish themselves as partners in Web-based networks which link them with providers, third party payers and other health care influencers.