Temasek-backed Halodoc enabled sale of restricted drugs

Nikita Puri also worked on this story.

Halodoc, one of Indonesia’s most well-known healthtech companies, is looking to expand to Thailand and Singapore and is reportedly in the market to raise US$100 million in fresh funding.

But the Jakarta-based startup is facing questions in its home country: Tech in Asia found that at least 11 drugs that are prohibited from being sold online are available on the platform, including erectile dysfunction and antipsychotic drugs.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

The Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan (BPOM), which is Indonesia’s national food and drug agency, banned these drugs from being sold online in 2020.

Perhaps more importantly, Tech in Asia has also learned that prescription drugs can also be bought through the platform with little to no oversight. While Halodoc requires a person to consult a doctor on its platform before being able to buy the drug, in more than one instance, Tech in Asia found that one could easily buy prescription medicine by just asking the doctor for it.

During these times, the doctors Tech in Asia interacted with permitted purchases without verifying the customer’s diagnosis. In one case, a prescription was written for a patient who wasn’t a part of the teleconsultation at all.

This is not the first time that Halodoc has had such loopholes in its system. Up until a few months ago, people were able to buy prescription drugs by uploading a random image when asked for a prescription, evidence viewed by Tech in Asia showed. This loophole has now been plugged.

We also understand that some of Halodoc’s investors were told about these issues.

Halodoc says it works with “trusted partners only” and has 20,000 licensed doctors onboard. The company claims that as a digital platform, it does not directly sell medicines, prescribed or otherwise. “We facilitate our pharmacist partners to verify the prescription redemption,” says Adeline Hindarto, vice president of government relations and corporate affairs at Halodoc.

The firm doesn’t just help with verification, however. Depending on the delivery speed requested by the patient, the platform also has the medication delivered through courier services or Gojek riders.

The startup is backed by a bevy of heavyweight investors, including Temasek, Singtel Innov8, Blibli, UOB Venture, Openspace Ventures, and Gojek.

Last April, Halodoc raised US$80 million in a series C round led by Indonesian conglomerate Astra, with Temasek, Bangkok Bank, Novo Holdings, and Telkomsel’s venture arm TMI joining in.

Lapses in prescription purchases

Amendments made, but long road ahead