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4 Rising M’sian Pharmacy-Tech Startups to Watch in 2022

Jiaying Cheang

Apr 13, 2022 . 7 min read

The convergence of technologies with health has been driving a revolution in healthcare. Since the emergence of COVID-19, digital health has been integral to daily life. Fast-moving digital health tools include mobile health, health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth, telemedicine, and personalized medicine. These health tech innovations help to empower users to be more engaged with and proactive about their health outside traditional care settings.

In Malaysia, there are emerging pharmacy-related startups employing technology to revolutionize the industry such as providing easy access to high-quality, personalized healthcare or even analytic services. These startups could be the trend in the next 10 years as digital health and health technology are at one’s fingertips after the COVID-19 outbreak.

We search through Malaysia for these companies with the criteria below:

• Pharmacy related or Pharmacy play a role in their process
• Founded less than 4 years
• Utilize technology as their services to their client

and gratefully we found 4 interesting pharmacy-related startups that catch our attention. So...

Which companies are the 4 emerging pharmacy-related tech startups in Malaysia?

1. Rhazes Consultancy Services Sdn Bhd

Founded year: 2021

Category: Telehealth / Telepharmacy

Rhazes Consultancy Services Sdn Bhd is Malaysia’s first knowledge-based digital health hub that fuses the expertise of evidence-based health practice and digital technology to empower the public with accurate, reliable, and quality digital healthcare solutions for the benefit of the healthcare production.

Rhazes Consultancy adopts a digital person-centric approach that directly involves the patients and caregivers in their care plans. They have subject matter experts, consultants, healthcare, and allied healthcare professionals in various fields of health specialities to provide value-based consultations to the public on health, disease, medication, and current health issues.

Their mission is to increase the digital health literacy of the general public and to combat infodemic, (fake/untrue information) through their unique services.

Their services provided include:

• Telehealth - (Pharmacy, Optometry, Audiology, Physiotherapy)
• High Impact Live Forums - An avenue for stakeholders and industry players in the fields of pharmacy to provide their thoughts, expertise and ideas on the current issues affecting the pharmacy practice.
• Virtual Internships for Undergraduates – providing pharmacy undergraduates with knowledge of TelePharmacy and Digital Health

2. iPharma.Care

Founded year: 2019

Category: Marketplace

iPharma.Care is a healthcare product & services platform that connects Brands to Independent Pharmacies to neighbourhoods via their O2O (Online-To-Offline) and Telehealth ecosystem. The birth of iPharma.Care opens the path to pharma-networking, where their ecosystem helps their partners better connect to consumers, brands and independent pharmacies.

iPharma.Care aims to expand O2O presence to 100 Online-To-Offline pharmacy retail points by the end of 2022. iPharma.Care currently has 350 independent pharmacy partners in their network.

Their services provided include:

O2O (Online-To-Offline) Platform – simultaneously connecting Brands directly to consumers through Online Marketplace & also via Offline retail points with iPharma O2O Pharmacy Partners. (please see attached store dress up)

Business-To-Business Services – help healthcare brands to list their products on the Independent Pharmacy Network.

Tele-Health Services – In collaboration with their strategic partner Speedoc, they link the consumers to a panel of health professionals and offer medical consultation, prescriptions and same-day delivery solutions.

Online Marketplace - for Brands in Independent Pharmacy Network, focused on healthcare products and services.

Brand & Marketing Services – help their brand partners and pharmacy partners with their marketing & promotion needs by offering to consult and bespoke solutions.

3. SkynFyx

Founded year: 2019

Category: Personalized Medicine

SkynFyx is Malaysia’s first digital skin clinic that provides consumers easy access to high-quality, personalized skincare formulas. Founded by an experienced skin doctor with more than 10 years of experience in acne, scars and a multitude of skin issues, together with a licensed compounding pharmacy, this teledermatology platform aims to deliver personalized skincare to your doorstep or aka. Skincare as a Service (SAAS).

Their service provided mainly involved Skincare as a service (SAAS), which includes Skincare consultation, personalized skincare formula, supplements for acne, hair and nails, skincare products (Moisturizer and Moist Peel). With just 3 simple steps, user can obtain their customized skincare on their doorstep

4. PharmaPlus

Founded year: 2021

Category: Procurement platform

PharmaPlus is a new and simplified solution to bring convenience, time, and cost-saving into the pharmaceutical procurement process. There are more than 25,000 registered pharmaceutical products with NPRA and retail pharmacy outlets can store up to 10,000 SKUs. The current process of purchasing pharmaceuticals is done manually by more than 1800 suppliers or product holders in Malaysia. PharmaPlus will make this process easier by providing a centralized database for all suppliers and product holders in Malaysia. This will save time as well as money for businesses who use it

Services provided by Pharmaplus included:

• Ordering Platform
• Product Pricing
• Product Status
• Customised Reordering Mechanism

The company is currently in the early stages of development, focusing on supplying products to the Sarawak market before expanding their operation throughout Malaysia. Jonah is the founder of the company and he is contactable via jonah@pharmaplustech.com

Final thought:

With the evolution of digital health and health technology, online pharmacies are inevitable and are anticipated to be the trend in the next decade. These startups are changing the pharmacy industry by providing customers with a more convenient and personalized experience. While they face some challenges, they remain confident in their abilities to succeed and ultimately, these startups will benefit both patients and pharmacists alike.

Thank you for reading