PM Health and Life Care (PMHLC) is all set to enter the online pharmacy market by early October with an investment of $1 million. In the absence of online pharmacy regulation in India, the company says it has developed a foolproof technology platform to prevent any malpractice and misuse.

The company’s health exchange business model now has a Managed Market Place for Chemists and Druggists’ (MMPC&D) which is the fulcrum of its operations.

According to PMHLC, it complies with Rule 65 (9), (10), (11-b) and (11-c) of the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules that insist on prescription-based drug sale, pharmacists presence at outlets, drugs prescribed only by registered medical practitioners and no scheduled  drug substitution.

The service will kick off in five metros and cover 100 cities in two years. The MMPC&D will have preferred and local partners comprising pharmacy distributors and retailers. Each city will be divided into zones and will have 50-60 chemists and druggists.

“We are all set to take off with the MMPC&D in Q3 this fiscal. For this, we created a technology and mapped it with the Drugs and Cosmetics Act & Rules in consultation with legal firms: KL Law and Mundukar Law Practice. Foolproof software technology ensures seamless operations,” Hemant Bhardwaj, co-founder and chief executive officer, PM Health and Life Care told Pharmabiz.

Bhardwaj said this will keep spurious drugs and self medication practices at bay. “With the Indian drug regulator working to devise regulations in a couple of months, we will be unveiling of our services at the right time,” he added.

“Barring medicines, the current Indian market for online sales has 40 million users and is expected to touch 100 million next year. When e-commerce benefits other products, medicines cannot be left out. However, our effort is to adhere to Indian drug laws and provide safe consumer convenience. Moreover, MMPC&D will provide employment to scores of pharmacy diploma holders, graduates and post graduates,” he added.

“To begin with, the company will adopt a stringent selection policy for pharma distributors and retailers,” said Umesh Naidu, chief operating officer, PMHLC.

It will mandate prescription driven sales, tamper-proof medicine packs, inspect working conditions of refrigerators and presence of pharmacists at chemist outlets in keeping with the regulatory authority directives. All these will facilitate complete transparency of only prescription-based sales and provide efficiency in medicine purchase. The move, according to the company, will transform medicine sale and purchase in the country.

Customers can access the Managed Market via mobile app or website. The portal has two sections: Cure and Care. The former sells both OTC and Scheduled drugs and the latter offers only wellness products like nutraceuticals and home diagnostic kits. Patient information is password protected.

Medicines are purchased via an order form that prompts unavailability of drugs but will not suggest any substitutes. Customers scan and upload prescriptions and provide the original on delivery. The order form does not enter the supply chain until PMHLC’s Command Centre of qualified pharmacists validate the order and audit the prescription’s date, medical practitioner details  and his registration number to entertain only genuine orders, said Bhardwaj.

To help trace not-of-standard quality drugs, PMHLC will insist on pharma manufacturers providing batch numbers. Regulators would need to share a list of spurious medicines to keep them out of the supply chain. Further, PMHLC’s physical surveillance teams will have decoy customers and flying squads to keep tabs on pharmacy outlets.