Nigeria (Commonwealth Union)_ According to the latest statement from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), over seventy percent of the pharmaceuticals administered in Nigeria were of inferior quality. Additionally, according to the organization, the majority of Nigerians did not have access to high-quality healthcare. Perhaps this is why CEO Bryan Mezue and COO Andrew Garza established Lifestores Healthcare in 2017. It is an e-pharmacy network that unites and digitizes pharmacies to facilitate access to primary healthcare.
The firm works as a chain of retail pharmacies, but its purpose is to reconstruct the fragmented pharmaceutical retail industry using technology. OGApharmacy, an online B2B pharmaceutical marketplace offering pharmacies 10–20% group savings and supply chain software, was pre-launched in 2020.
According to the estimation of Brazzaville Foundation, a charitable organization located in London, a total of 120,000 Africans die annually owing to pharmaceuticals of inferior quality. Moreover, reports indicate that Nigeria, which ranks top among African countries in terms of the number of people lost annually due to counterfeit medications, is also the major market for fake goods in the developing world. As a result, Lifestores ensures the safety of its medications to its clients. OGApharmacy asserts that over 10% of Nigeria’s pharmacies are registered as clients and that its market share has grown by 25% every month.
Lifestores intends to increase the number of patients it serves from 100,000 to 400,000 by 2023. To stimulate development, the e-pharmacy network will provide new technological features to its B2B goods and launch a new processing plant in Lagos. These features include pharmacy management software, predictive ordering based on artificial intelligence, improved credit alternatives, and patient management programs.
In addition to expanding its B2C capabilities, the business will conduct pilot initiatives in patient savings, care management, and pharmaceutical distribution. Bryan Mezue, Co-founder & CEO of Lifestores Healthcare, expressed delight over the initiative. He said: “We are thrilled to have Health54 join our mission of democratizing access to quality and affordable primary healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa, together with existing investors, such as Aruwa Capital and the Lionbear consortium.”
