Co-Creation Hub has announced an undisclosed investment via its Growth Capital Fund, in DrugStoc, an innovative drug procurement platform designed to enhance the purchasing experience of all buyer-categories.
Launched in 2015, CcHub’s Growth Capital Fund was launched by Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), Bank of Industry (BoI), Venture Garden Group (VGG) and Omidyar Network (ON) in 2016.
The fund which now has a new target of $20 million has so far invested in five startups including LifeBank, Edves, Delivery Science and Riby
Founded in 2015, Drugstoc provides hospitals and pharmacies access to genuine pharmaceutical and health care products through a seamless end-to-end procurement platform enabling them source for all medications and consumables they need.
It currently serves more than 3,000 doctors and pharmacists, providing them with genuine drugs.
According to CcHub, “New research from the WHO estimates that 1 in 10 medical products circulating in low- and middle-income countries is either substandard or falsified. In Nigeria and Pakistan alone, counterfeit medical products represent 40 to 50% of the entire medical market.”
“The problems of fake drug proliferation in Nigeria have affected the credibility of the Healthcare system and can exert very harmful effects on the consumer resulting to illness, disability and even death, and anyone can be a victim. Some of the incidences have resulted in death among children as consumers most times have limited knowledge on the quality of the drugs they are buying or ingesting. This makes it imperative that there is a need to intensify efforts in the eradication of fake drugs.”
Consulting firm McKinsey predicts that the value of Africa’s pharmaceutical market will be worth $40 to $65 billion by 2020. This makes the sector attractive to not only honest pharmaceutical industry players but also some bad actors.
Drugstoc guarantees the genuineness of its drugs by operating an internationally accredited end-to-end traceable supply chain that allows health professionals to track drugs from the manufacturer’s warehouse to the patient, ensuring zero room for counterfeit or contaminated drugs.
