COVID-19 information overload, PharmEasy app cuts the clutter with awareness, vaccination, RT-PCR tests and more

The PharmEasy app lets you order COVID-19 related products, read about resources, find the nearest RT-PCR test centres, book home tests, book vaccine slots, and even find alternatives to prescribed COVID-19 medicines.

With India engulfed in the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Pharmeasy has stepped in to fight COVID-19 by extending its features and providing information and resources to its users.

Started in 2015, PharmEasy is an online medicine delivery app that also allows users to buy healthcare products, OTC products, and medical equipment online. Users can also book diagnostic tests online, including blood tests, lab tests, full-body check-up, and other preventive health check-ups.

The app, which has been downloaded more than 10 million times on Google Play Store, has a user rating of 4.3 stars. It is now providing verified COVID-19 related information, such as coronavirus tests, booking of vaccination slots, and other requirements.

Besides Android, the app is also available on Apple’s App Store, and can be used via the web.

This week, we’ll walk you through the PharmEasy app, which may be helpful in times of medical urgency.

Let’s gets started

To get started on the app, you need to enter your pin code or select your current location. We let the app use location only for ‘while using the app’ option. PharmEasy covers more than 22,000 pin code in India.

Once the location is set, you land on the homepage, which is designed in the form of a marketplace. You can buy medicines, get a lab test, buy wellness products, and even shop by filtering the category. You can also see trending products by scrolling down.

COVID-19

Amid the pandemic, it’s the app's first section on the homepage that has become more relevant. The section has swipe screens, which lets you order COVID-19 related products, read about COVID-19 resources, find the nearest RT-PCR test centres, book home tests for COVID-19, order medicines for home delivery, and even find alternatives to prescribed COVID-19 medicines. The same section also lets you find and book vaccination slots.

The ‘Covid Free India’ tab under the section is potentially the most useful, as it allows users to find all COVID-19-related resources – from packages, essentials, oxygen and ICU beds, and helpline numbers – at one place.

https://yourstory.com/2021/05/app-covid-19-information-pharmeasy-vaccination-rt-pcr-tests/amp

Telangana near to reach 1 lakh corona cases, death toll reaches to737

 HYDERABAD: Telangana reported 1,967 Covid-19 positive cases on Friday, taking the state’s tally to 99,391.Males accounted for more than 65% of the infected.

The state public health department said in a bulletin on Friday morning that eight people had succumbed to the virus in the 24 hours till Thursday night.

The fatality rate in the state on account of Covid-19 stands at 0.74%, lower than the national average of 1.90%. The government reported that 46.13% of the deceased had died of Covid-19, while 53.87% passed away due to comorbidities.

According to the bulletin, 1,781 people recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 76,967. The recovery rate in the state stands at 77.43%, higher than the national average of 73.91%.

By Thursday night, the state reported 21,687 active Covid-19 cases, including 15,332 persons in either home or institutional isolation.

The state tested 26,767 samples by Thursday, taking the total number of tests to 848,078. The state said it was awaiting results of 1,300 samples. The number of tests per million people amounted to 22,843 by Thursday night.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/telangana-nears-one-lakh-mark-in-coronavirus-cases-death-toll-reaches-737/articleshow/77668237.cms

Covid-19 vaccine trials to be begin in Russia on 40,000 people next week

 Russia on August 11 declared that it had become the first country to approve a vaccine against novel coronavirus.Russia health ministry earlier said that the COVID-19 vaccine offers lasting immunity from the virus.

Days after registering "world's first COVID-19 vaccine", Russia will finally start the advanced trial. The phase III trial will involve more than 40,000 people, the TASS news agency reported on Thursday.

Russia on August 11 declared that it had become the first country to approve a vaccine against novel coronavirus. Dubbed as Sputnik V, the vaccine was developed by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian defence ministry. Russia registered the vaccine after less than two months of human testing. The results of initial trials have not been made public yet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that one of his daughters had been inoculated with the vaccine. “I know it has proven efficient and forms a stable immunity, and I would like to repeat that it has passed all the necessary tests," Putin said.

However, the entire world raised question on safety and effectiveness of the vaccine developed by Russia. Russia health ministry said that the COVID-19 vaccine offers lasting immunity from the virus. The vaccine is expected to provide immunity from the coronavirus for up to two years, according to health ministry.

Clinical human studies started on June 17 among 76 volunteers. Half were injected with a vaccine in liquid form and the other half with a vaccine that came as soluble powder. Professor Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya Institute that developed the vaccine, said that vaccination will start while the Phase III trials continue.

WHO begins discussion with Russia on COVID-19 vaccine

The World Health Organization’s Europe office said it has begun discussions with Russia to try to obtain more information about the experimental COVID-19 vaccine the country recently approved. Catherine Smallwood, a senior emergency official at WHO Europe said the agency had begun “direct discussions" with Russia and that WHO officials have been sharing “the various steps and information that’s going to be required for WHO to take assessments."

“This concern that we have around safety and efficacy is not specifically for the Russia vaccine, it’s for all of the vaccines under development," said Smallwood. She acknowledged WHO was taking an “accelerated approach" to try to speed development of coronavirus vaccines but said “it’s essential we don’t cut corners in safety or efficacy."

Russian officials said doctors might start getting vaccinated with their experimental shot this month and that mass campaigns could begin in October.

https://www.livemint.com/

Amazon launches online e-pharmacy services in India

Amazon continues to spread its wings in India. And now the e-tailer company has launched its e-pharmacy service for consumers. The Amazon Pharmacy is piloting in Bengaluru for now, allowing people to buy over-the-counter and prescription medicines online. Bengaluru is usually the pilot market for most companies, and Amazon has used the region for a similar test with its food delivery service earlier this year. Also Read - Samsung Galaxy M01 now coming to Amazon at discounted price from August 18.

Amazon, quoted in multiple reports, pointed out the medicines come with 20 percent discount. And this is clearly going to be Amazon’s play, looking to offset the existing players in the market. You have other online sellers like 1mg, Netmeds, Medlife and PharmEasy offering similar service. But Amazon’s wider pull and most likely, offering them through Prime program could entice consumers to switch sides. Also Read - Amazon beats Flipkart in Q2 smartphone sales online in India: Counterpoint.

The company claims it will offer genuine medicines in secure packaging. It is also offering medical equipment and devices like glucose meters,  and nebulisers among others. With the pandemic, those conditions are likely to appeal to the buyers. Also Read - Amazon launches food delivery service 'Amazon Food' in India.

Having said that, Amazon’s limited service availability could work against them for now. So, we’re eager to see if the company can expand its service base at the earliest. The Indian online pharmacy segment is riddled with unclear regulations, and Amazon could surely benefit from such a scenario.

https://www.bgr.in/news/amazon-online-pharmacy-india-launch-bengaluru-pilot-test-details-909548/

India’s role as pharmacy of the world has come into focus amid COVID-19 crisis

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla today said India’s role as a pharmacy of the world has come into focus during the COVID-19 crisis. He said, India has a world-class pharmaceutical industry that is the producer of choice for critical medications with brand recognition in all geographies and markets. He added that the pandemic produced an explosion in demand for drugs such as Hydroxychloroquine and Paracetamol produced in India.

The Foreign Secretary was giving a virtual address to the National Defence College on 'India’s Foreign Policy Options in the Emerging World Order'.

Mr Shringla said, in a coordinated response involving several branches of government and multiple private sector pharma companies, India was able to supply large volumes of these drugs to friends and consumers across the world. It is also making its medical and public health expertise and capacity available to the entire South Asian region.

He said, India has not let the pandemic come in the way of diplomatic engagements. The Foreign Secretary pointed out that India’s wise counsel and the Prime Minister’s statesmanship have been sought and appreciated at various bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral platforms.

http://newsonair.com/Main-News-Details.aspx?id=388700

Indian government plans to optimization of resources SMEs and bulk drug industry

Aiming to reduce the cost of bulk drugs by 20%-25% and to help small and medium pharmaceutical enterprises (SMEs) upgrade their technology, the Indian government is looking to pump in several millions to support and shore up the drug industry, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

The government is keen to provide assistance to the bulk drug industry to "ease the competitiveness, provide easy access to standard testing and infrastructure facilities and value addition" through the creation of common facility centers. Proposed as a central sector scheme, the total size of the bulk drug scheme has been placed at $29 million for 2018-2020.

"The aim is to strengthen the existing infrastructure facilities in order to make the Indian bulk drug industry a global leader in bulk drug exports," said an official. Reducing the cost of production in the bulk drug park will also lead to better availability and affordability of bulk drugs in the domestic market, the official added.

Price reductions

In the domestic market, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed the retail and ceiling prices of 22 formulations used for the treatment of various ailments including HIV, bacterial infections and cardiac condition, among others.

The regulator has fixed ceiling prices of co-trimoxazole sulphamethoxazole and trimethoprim tablets used for treating a variety of bacterial infections. It has also fixed the retail prices of drugs like omeprazole domperidone capsule, to treat acidity and gastroesophageal reflux disease, and clotrimazole beclomethasone cream, for a variety of inflamed fungal skin infections.

The price of rosuvastatin clopidogrel, used to lower cholesterol levels and triglycerides and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate lamivudine efavirenz tablet, an HIV treatment, have also been lowered.

Five sub schemes

Announcing guidelines for five sub-schemes under the Pharma Development Program, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) said the main objective is to reduce the cost of production for bulk drugs. Exploiting the benefits arising due to optimization of resources and economies of scale is the next step.

The scheme is to be implemented through a one-time grant-in-aid. The purpose of the grant, the official said, is to render financial assistance for the establishment of common facilities in any upcoming bulk drug park promoted by the state governments or state corporations.

The maximum limit for the grant-in-aid would be $14.64 million per bulk drug park. As for the Common Facility Centers, the maximum limit for the grant-in-aid under this category would be $2.93 million per cluster.

Another scheme proposed is for the assistance of cluster development. The scheme is termed as cluster development program for the pharma sector, and will be a central sector scheme. The total size of the scheme is proposed at $2.93 million for 2018-2020.

This would be implemented on a public-private partnership format through a one-time grant-in-aid to be released in various phases for the creation of identified infrastructure and common facilities.

The pharmaceutical promotion development scheme will also aim at the promotion, development and export promotion in the pharmaceutical sector.

A budgetary allocation of $21 million for 2018-2020 has been made for the Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS).

The official added it is possible to extend the benefit of interest subvention to around 250 SMEs under the scheme.

SME scheme
The PTUAS sub-scheme is aimed at providing interest subvention to eligible SME pharma units having GMP compliant manufacturing facilities both for bulk drugs and pharmaceutical formulations.

Eligible units intending to upgrade their manufacturing infrastructure to attain WHO-GMP norms, have to secure a loan from any financial institution to upgrade their infrastructure and technology. The goal of this scheme is to facilitate SMEs of proven track records, and to enable them to participate and compete in the global market and earn foreign exchange.

Almost 75% pharma SMEs are purely manufacturing companies with their own facilities, and around 13% companies are engaged in manufacturing as well as trading.

Of these, 10.5% companies are doing R&D work, both clinical tests as well as contract research, along with manufacturing. Around 50% of these pharma SMEs are engaged in exports to various countries around the world, including the USA and Europe.

Pharma exports

The Indian government is keen that the pharmaceutical sector looks for new markets. Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu said government is committed to giving access to the sector in key global markets.

Emphasizing the need to reach out to newer markets, especially in Africa where affordability of drugs is a key issue, Mr Prabhu said the Indian drug industry could well address the problem with its generic drugs.

Asking drugmakers to increase R&D investments, Mr Prabhu also called on companies to find ways to make healthcare more affordable to people by reducing costs.

Stating that regions like Latin America and Africa hold huge export potential for Indian pharmaceutical products, Mr Prabhu said "the pipeline for new medicines should not get dry."

Speaking at a pharma exhibition, Mr Prabhu also assured global pharmaceutical players and regulators about the quality and affordability of Indian drugs. He added the government is committed to promoting pharma exports to China, as well as to other untapped markets.

With China agreeing to a high-level bilateral round table meeting, Mr Prabhu said it would clear the way for Indian companies to get greater market access and penetration in China.

The USA accounted for 31% of India's $17.27 billion pharma exports in 2017-18. India also has the highest number of US Food and Drug Administration approved plants outside the USA.

API development

Eager to reduce dependence on China, India's chemicals and fertilizers ministry has joined hands with other ministries to draw up a road-map for increasing active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production in India. A high-level task force has been constituted to study global practices and draw up a plan aimed at boosting domestic production of APIs.

Currently, over 60% of APIs are sourced from other nations. For some specific APIs, the dependence is over 80%-90%, according to the DoP.

India continues to rely on imports of key starting materials, intermediates and APIs from China, with the share of dependence increasing over time. This potentially exposes the country to raw material supply disruptions and pricing volatility.

With the government keen to increase India's pharmaceutical exports to China, the Department of Commerce in coordination with the Embassy of India at Beijing commissioned a study on 'Enhancing Indian Exports of Pharmaceutical products to China'.

China's healthcare sector continues to grow rapidly with spending projected to grow from $357 billion in 2011 to $1 trillion in 2020, the study adds.

https://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/indian-government-plans-to-foster-smes-and-bulk-drug-industry

Pharmacy Netmeds fundraising plans even in the business-to-business B2B space raise more funding

Net-Meds Marketplace Pvt. Ltd, which runs online pharmacy Netmeds.com, is firming up Series B fundraising plans even as it is looking at acquisitions to beef up offerings and diversify into the business-to-business (B2B) segment, a top executive told Techcircle.in.

The PE-backed company that raised $60 million in two tranches last year expects to close the second round of funding in a year, said founder and CEO Pradeep Dadha.

At present, Netmeds caters to retail customers by procuring products from wholesale and retail shops. It plans to enter the B2B segment, targeting hospitals and retail shops, which would enable it to buy directly from manufacturers, he said.

It expects to enter the B2B segment after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented, Dadha said.

A part of the funds will also be used for building cold-chain storage facilities and improving its supply chain when it enters the B2B space, he added.Dadha said the online pharmacy is at a stage where ecommerce was five years ago and hence is spending a lot of money on customer acquisition to create a business category and maintain service levels. Furthermore, the firm drives its growth through prescription and non-prescription medicines, and not via over-the-counter and FMCG products. Hence, it has higher stickiness from existing customers and can continue to offer discounts through an efficient supply chain and collaborations with manufacturers.

It is also engaged in acquisition talks with companies that have complementary service offerings. Early this month, the firm was reported to be in an advanced stage of discussions to acquire Pluss, a hyperlocal drugs delivery startup, owned by Alpinismo Online Ventures Pvt. Ltd. The combined entity is expected to take on rival 1mg, an online marketplace for medicines.

Dadha declined to comment on Pluss, but said through acquisitions, it could offer value-added services such as recording information on chronic diseases for customers. The company continues to look for acquisition targets in the logistics and health-tech space.

Net-Meds Marketplace was launched by Dadha whose family ran Tamilnadu Dadha Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which was acquired and merged with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd in 1997. S Mohanchand Dadha (father of Pradeep Dadha) who founded Tamilnadu Dadha Pharmaceuticals is now a member of the board of Sun Pharma, India’s top drugmaker.

The firm claims to have close to one million customers from 700 cities with 65% of the business generated from tier II and III cities, Dadha said.

In October last year, Netmeds received funding worth $50 million (Rs 325 crore) from healthcare-focused global private equity firm OrbiMed, with participation from existing investors MAPE Advisory Group and founder and CEO Pradeep Dadha’s family investment fund.

In May 2015, MAPE had said it will invest about $10 million in yet to be launched Netmeds, taking the total Series A funding to $60 million.

The company has 70,000 stock keeping units (SKU) with an average basket size of Rs 1,750. It plans to reach $1 billion transactions by March 2020.

Other online pharmacy startups in the space include Zigy, 1mg and CareOnGo, to name a few.



http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2016/10/13/netmeds-plans-to-enter-b2b-space-raise-more-funding/