Specialty pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare company Hyphens Pharma has formally launched Singapore's first Health Sciences Authority-approved digital pharmacy.

WHAT IT DOES

Hyphens Pharma is engaged in three business segments: specialty pharma, proprietary brands, and medical hypermart and digital. It has established its presence across major Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The group also runs a marketing and distribution network covering 10 more markets in Asia-Pacific. 

Its latest business, WellAway, managed by its digital venture DocMed, allows patients to receive e-prescriptions from qualified physicians and have their prescription medicines delivered directly to them. 

Since securing a license to operate in January last year, the online pharmacy has signed in over 100 clinics in the island city-state. Hyphens Pharma targets to onboard around 1,000 more clinics to the platform by the end of the year, a news report noted.

WellAway is currently offering a limited-time free delivery of pharma products for doctors on its platform.

WHY IT MATTERS

Based on a press statement, WellAway services are helpful for patients who are aged, immobile, self-isolating, and those who just prefer to lessen their outdoor contact during the ongoing pandemic.

It is expected from an HSA-registered e-pharmacy to send traceable digital scripts directly from clinics and protect patient data by placing cybersecurity measures. Qualified pharmacists must also handle pharmacy operations, including the storage and supply of registered therapeutic products. Aside from these, WellAway also added specialised handling for temperature-sensitive medication.

Meanwhile, Hyphens Pharma is collaborating with pharma group Servier Singapore to further develop its new e-pharmacy service.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Some acquisitions have been made around the digital pharmacy scene in Asia-Pacific in the past several months. For one, Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart has signed deals to purchase a majority stake at online pharmacy startup SastaSundar. Digital pharmacy PharmEasy, meanwhile, has acquired Aknamed, a cloud-based healthcare supply chain platform, in part of its move to diversify its healthcare business. In New Zealand, hospital group Green Cross Health has bought a quarter equity stake in digital pharmacy PillDrop.

ON THE RECORD

"I believe that digitalisation is the future of the pharmaceutical industry and working with WellAway certainly allows us to better serve our patients’ needs in the new digital era," Florent De Kertanguy, general manager of Servier Singapore, commented.