Pharmaceutical Waste
Pharmaceuticals are used in health care facilities to save millions of lives by preventing and treating diseases. Medicines account for 20–60% of health spending in developing and transitional countries. Incorrect inventory management, lengthy procurement cycles, improper monitoring of drug expiration times, and distribution problems result in wastage of pharmaceuticals, which leads to wastage of financial resources and a decline in the quality of healthcare services.
Globally, all health care services generate 3% of pharmaceutical waste. In the UK alone, £48 billion worth of pharmaceuticals is distributed in the UK per annum, of which £400 million worth of medicine is expiring every year. As the ageing population and increasing chronic conditions are growing the demand for pharmaceuticals, the wastage is increasing proportionally.
Setting up the Start-up
When Akber Tahir came up with the idea to set up a marketplace for pharmaceuticals, he was on a gap year after finishing school. Having had type 1 diabetes for eight years, he was familiar with just how unintentionally medicine waste can be generated. His personal experience has driven him to make a difference in how pharmaceuticals are accessed.
As an offer-holder in BSc Management at LSE, Akber proactively reached out to LSE Generate, where he had multiple discussions about his business idea. He was selected to participate in the Generate Accelerator Programme (GAP) 2021, a 12-week part-time programme dedicated to the most promising early-stage start-ups co-founded by LSE students, staff, and alumni. Completing GAP has enabled Akber to scale his business extremely effectively.
“GAP was exactly what we needed, and this opportunity came at the perfect time. Access to the LSE Generate network, business masterclasses, mentoring, and interns allowed us to scale extremely effectively over the programme. During GAP, we scaled from £750,000 worth of listings to £2,900,000, in 10 weeks.”
– Akber Tahir
Early Successes
The Pharmovo app launched in August 2020. Since the launch, the business has had over 200 meetings with companies from the industry and has seen increased interest from multinational wholesalers and the entire industry. Pharmovo has already formed a strategic partnership with a leading smoking alternatives manufacturer.
"Pharmovo could not have come at a better time, COVID-19 disruption has left even manufacturers with record levels of near-to-expiry stock due to people not being able to get to the GP"
– MedReich UK
In addition, the start-up continued to have excellent development opportunities: it has completed the HOST50 Programme, successfully enrolled into the German government 5-HT Digital Hub Initiative, and is currently being scouted by TechStars, which offers a London Accelerator Programme.
The business has the vision to become the top UK platform for wholesale transactions of pharmaceuticals by 2022. The start-up is also planning to launch a European expansion in cooperation with 5-HT in order to work with leading European Manufacturers and is aiming to continue with the West African expansion.
If you are interested in exploring how LSE Generate can support you with your business idea, please get in touch with us via generate@lse.ac.uk.