Today we will be discussing the funding of the Pharmatech startup announced by MEDdelivery. The advancement of technology, AI, blockchain, cloud computing, and the internet of things are leaving a major impact on the healthcare system.
So, because of this, the pharmaceutical and biotech companies are taking the help of these innovative technologies to ensure that they provide solutions at various different steps throughout the product life cycle, which starts from discovery and clinical trials to regulatory approvals, pharmacovigilance and usually end at market access. Pharmatech refers to the trend of applying and using technology to the various R &D processes.
Out of the top 20 pharma companies, 13 have made a public announcement that they are engaging themselves in some kind of collaborative work on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Research and Development phase, which they are doing through either AI vendors or initiatives of AI which have been taken within their own companies, with a motive to transform the existing Research and Development models.
How Pharmaceutical industry is innovating?
The pharma industry is seeing a lot of innovation on various levels-
Screening and Diagnoses– The industry is using machine learning to take out valuable information from the already existing data, like MRI and mammograms
Biomarkers– The industry is engaged in generating biomarkers that are based on physiological monitoring data
Therapeutics– It is the process in which drugs are paired with “companion” technologies that help in adjusting drug dosage according to the treatment progress of the patient
Real World Evidence-It is the process of analyzing the data on post-market safety, usage, comorbidities, and other features and attributes which were not captured during clinical trials
About the Pharma industry of the country
India is claimed to be the largest producer of generic drugs across the globe. The Indian pharmaceutical sector supplies more than 50% of the demand of the world for various vaccines, 40% of the generic demand of the United States, and 25% of all the medicine of the United Kingdom.
India in terms of pharmaceutical products in the world, is of the rank 3rd and of the rank 14th in terms of value. The domestic pharmaceutical industry has a network of around 3,000 companies of drugs and around 10,500 manufacturing units.
A survey was done by the Indian Economic Survey of the year 2021, it has been expected that the domestic market of the pharmaceutical will grow by 3 times in the next 10 years and the domestic pharmaceutical market of the country in the year 2021 is estimated to be around USD 65 billion and will be reaching USD 120-130 billion by the year 2030. The Indian medical devices market was at USD 10.36 billion in the FY20 and the market is expected to reach at a CAGR of 37% from the year 2020 to the year 2025, where it will reach USD 50 billion.
The Indian pharmaceutical industry is also seeing a big change with the introduction of technology in it. The top 5 AI companies in India that are engaged in creating the solutions for the Pharma Sector are-
Indegene
Intuition Systems
Innoplexus
RxPrism
Tricog Health
With the coming of AI in this sector, it will for sure speed up the diagnosis and give assistance and help to the medical officials in understanding the disease better and faster. AI is also engaged in the consolidation of research scientists which will prove to be a blessing to the scientists as it will reduce the time constraints and help them come up with safe and effective drugs.
About the funding of MEDdelivery
The Pharma-tech startup, MEDdelivery, as announced on September 27, 2021, has raised funds worth USD 1 million. This round of funding saw the participation of the investors, whose names are- Auxano Entrepreneur Trust, Lets venture, Kisho Capital, Venture Garage, and Marquee Angels.
The startup plans to expand itself and reach more than 100 non-metro cities in the next 18-24 months.
About the newly funded startup
Headquartered in Jaipur, MEDdelivery is a B2B pharma tech startup, which was founded by Aastha Dusad, Rahul Gautam, and Rohit Bafna in the year 2019. The startup is engaged in acting as a single value chain between the pharma companies, stockists, and medical shops.
It provides help to the local medical shops in procuring supplies from hyperlocal wholesale markets. It is reorganized by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP, Government of India) and StartupIndia.gov.in. It is incubated by iStart Nest Incubator, Rajasthan Government.
The vision of the startup is to penetrate as a single essence amongst all the channels of Indian Pharmaceutical Supply Chain as the Smart Logistics and Technology Solutions shaping the future of the Indian Pharmaceutical Supply Chain.
The startup has a catalog of more than 1 million SKUs from more than 10,000 various pharmaceutical brands. It has achieved an annual Gross Merchandise Volume of more than INR 48 crore by serving small pharmacies in Jaipur, with an average order size on a daily basis range between INR 5,000 to INR 15,000. The startup has a strong repeat rate of more than 70%, thus showing its strong and firm hold in the market.
The startup currently has its operations in more than 8 cities having more than 3,000 retail pharmacies using the platform of the startup.
About the founders of the startup
Aastha Dusad is the co-founder of the startup, MEDdelivery. She holds a Diploma in Economics from the Indian School of Business and Finance, and Masters in Business and Managerial Economics from SS Jain Subodh PG College, Jaipur. She has strong team management and strategy skills.
Rohit Bafna is the co-founder and the financial analyst of the startup, MEDdelivery. He is a CA Final candidate and holds an MBA in Finance and Financial Management Services, from the International School of Management and Research, Pune. He has very strong financial analysis and negotiation skills.
Rahul Gautam is the co-founder and the Chief Product and Technology Officer of the startup MEDdelivery. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer programming from University Maharaja’s college, Jaipur, and a Master’s degree in Computer Science. He has been a technology analyst and technical lead at Metacube Software Pvt Ltd. He has very strong problem-solving and strategic planning skills.
What has been said about the deal?
Aastha Dusad, the co-founder of the startup made a statement saying that the aim of the startup is to increase accessibility, availability, and affordability of the medicines especially in non-metro markets which are basically dominated by pharma companies that are locally run.
Rahul Gautam, the co-founder of the startup, commented that in today’s time, the local medical stores have a very important and vital role to play as they are providing priority healthcare to more than 10 million people every day. He further said that the startup has made sure that there is no hassle and disturbance caused to these local medical stores while ordering stocks and making sure that the supply chain is running efficiently.
Rohit Bafna, the co-founder of the startup, said that the startup has a unique design and has community-driven data which makes sure that there is 100% fulfillment of all the products to the customers of the startup. He further stated that they work towards achieving efficiency for all the stakeholders who are present in the pharma supply chain by increasing accessibility, availability, and affordability of the medicines.
The startup is working towards something which has become the need of the day. We wish the startup good luck and a bright future.
Edited by Sanjana Simlai.
