DrugStoc

DrugStoc is a Nigerian e-health pharmaceutical procurement and distribution company that connects pharmaceutical manufacturers with healthcare providers such as hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes and individual physicians. Through its cloud-based platform and mobile app, buyers can discover and order medicines, laboratory and medical consumables, health supplements and small medical devices, place wholesale orders with delivery stated at 24 hours, track orders in real time, and reach a company representative via live chat. The app lists more than 10,000 medicines from brands including Emzor, GSK, Pfizer, Fidson, Sanofi and Novartis, and also publishes medicine information covering treatment uses, side effects, usage recommendations and safety warnings.

Rather than operating a marketplace alone, the company holds a pharmaceutical distribution licence, buys directly from manufacturers and builds the value chain internally, using fulfilment centres, transit points and last-mile logistics. It states ISO certification on Good Distribution Practice as part of its quality-control systems, and has invested in cold-chain infrastructure for perishable products. The company also works with financial institutions, including Sterling Bank, to provide supply chain financing to healthcare providers.

Founding story

Co-founders Chibuzo Opara and Adham Yehia met as students at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, where Opara — a physician of about six years who had moved into economics and finance — was completing a PhD and Yehia, a geneticist involved in managing his father's hospital in Lagos, was pursuing a master's in health innovation management and seeking a project advisor. In 2010 they founded Integra Health, a hospital management company based on Yehia's master's project, which was initially contracted to manage 20 hospitals and exposed them to gaps in Nigeria's pharmaceutical supply chain. In 2015 they created and piloted a technology platform linking manufacturers with distributors; the platform-only model did not take off, and after a year-long incubation at Stanford's Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies in 2016 the founders added distribution and formally launched DrugStoc in 2017.

Business model

DrugStoc sources pharmaceutical products directly from manufacturers under a distribution licence and sells them to healthcare facilities and practitioners via its online platform and app, handling warehousing, fulfilment and last-mile delivery. It complements product sales with supply chain financing arranged through partner financial institutions.

The company earns a commission on each sale made through the platform.