The drug supply chain in Africa is broken. Pharmacies struggle to keep life-saving and life-sustaining medicines in stock. Often patients are forced to pay prices—padded by middlemen—three times what they would in a Western country for the same drugs. Meanwhile, non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension—which generally require daily medications at the time of diagnosis—are becoming the biggest burden on African healthcare systems. While disease rates rise, drugs fail to get into the hands of those who need them most.
mPharma makes medicine accessible and affordable. Its innovation is to take ownership of the supply chain, eliminate inefficiencies, and introduce price controls. mPharma buys drugs on behalf of pharmacies which then sell them to patients—saving pharmacies the up-front cost, alleviating supply constraints, and introducing an efficiency checkpoint. Its ability to track and aggregate demand and its purchasing power result in lower drug prices.
mPharma has formed partnerships with major drug manufacturers—including Novartis, Bayer, and Pfizer—and now manages a network of providers throughout Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Many pharmacies in its network, such as the Red Cross in Zimbabwe, have managed to eliminate stockouts. mPharma also works with clinics to conduct community health screenings and to sign patients up for its innovative drug financing—an interest-free micropayment plan. mPharma cleans up the pipeline of drug procurement to deliver affordable drugs to sick people.