Competition in the online pharmaceutical industry heats up in Pakistan

More entrepreneurs are trying to disrupt the US$2 billion pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan. The newest entrant in this vertical is Sehat, headquartered in Lahore. It aims to provide consumers with genuine, affordable medicine – a difficult task, considering approximately 30 percent of drugs in the existing supply chain are substandard copies.

Sehat is an ecommerce site specializing in pharmaceuticals. It works much like you’d expect. Users log onto the site, submit their prescriptions for verification, and then proceed to order their desired medication. Payment can be done through credit cards, cash on delivery, or bank transfer.

The initial catalyst for the startup came from the founding teams’ experience within this sector. Sehat Director Bilal Mumtaz reveals that his family has had a sixty-year association with the pharmaceutical retail industry. In 1948, Mumtaz’s grandfather opened a chain of pharmacy outlets in Lahore under the name of Fazal Din and Sons, eventually building it into a healthcare conglomerate. The decades-long involvement has helped foster relations with manufacturers, distributors, and agents, allowing the startup to tap these networks and procure genuine medicines at competitive prices. However, Sehat is a wholly-independent entity, and does not depend financially on Fazal Din and Sons.

Preventing abuse of prescription drugs is also of paramount importance for Mumtaz and his team. Sehat employs a team of qualified pharmacists to review the authenticity of prescriptions before approving the delivery of controlled medicine. “Strict checks are maintained at all times,” he tells Tech in Asia.

While Sehat offers nationwide cash-on-delivery services, one of its unique factors is the option of maintaining an account with them. Customers can transfer a sum of money to this account – using a variety of methods such as bank transfer, credit card, or mobile payments – and then continue to order medicine or healthcare items until the balance is exhausted. Mumtaz indicates that this feature works best for clients who are on regular medication and can schedule a weekly delivery according to their prescriptions. The order scheduling feature can be planned up to a year in advance and can be modified at any time.

Special packaging for delivery

Despite the long history that his family shares with the pharmaceutical industry, Mumtaz reveals that it took his team approximately two years of painstaking research before they decided to launch their online service. One of the most critically evaluated mechanisms was the delivery channel. They wanted the experience to be the same as visiting a retail outlet. Hence, for items such as vaccines, which require a strict adherence to temperature-controlled conditions, there is a carefully curated process. Medicines are stored in a special air-tight box, ensuring their effectiveness and potency.

Sehat has also started working with large-scale corporate clients to deliver medicine to their communities. Currently they work in close collaboration with ICI Polymer, Orient Electronics, and LUMS. Mumtaz also indicates that they are in talks with a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer to collaborate on vaccine delivery. If the agreement is finalized, then customers will be able to call Sehat and have a trained physician administer vaccines at their doorstep. “This is the first time that a project of this magnitude would have been initiated in Pakistan,” he adds.

The startup has ambitious growth plans for its medium-term strategic objectives. It wants to diversify the model to become an all-encompassing healthcare solution, where even doctor appointments can be booked online. Sehat will also encourage professionals to post healthcare advice on its blog and aim to establish a community where people can seek answers for medical complaints.