Pharmvision is close to tie-ups with two companies in these countries, chief operating officer Simone Lee told The New Straits Times without revealing further details.
The 18-month-old company is a group purchasing organization (GPO), whereby the 500 pharmacy buyers in its network can enjoy competitive pricing through bulk buying initiatives, joint promotional activities and targeted marketing programs.
Lee said GPOs are quite prevalent in the US, but it is still a relatively new concept in Malaysia.
In essence, Pharmvision is a buying and negotiating house that services private hospitals and independent pharmacies in Malaysia. Its e-procurement system is used by pharmacies in the country to order their supplies, with savings up to 25 percent using the e-procurement system, the company said.
Pharmvision is targeting an expected market of 3,000 private clinics, acting as a service provider in respect of the order and fulfillment of drugs to the private sector via an exclusive partnership with Newcleus Sdn Bhd. Newcleus is the strategic partner of the government's telehealth concessionaire, Medical Online Sdn Bhd.
"For a company like ours, which doesn't have any products because we are in the trading business, we rely on our in-house solutions to aid efficiency in the healthcare industry," she said.
About 60 percent of its inventory are pharmacy items, with over-the-counter items forming 30 percent, and the rest, personal care items.
"In that sense, we offer smaller retailers a greater chance to break even, to reach profitability and also carry a wider range of products," added Lee. Pharmvision's value-added to larger retailers is the wide choice of products from a single point, she said.
Customers also benefit, as "the buyer would not have to deal with 50 or 60 suppliers," she noted.
According to Lee, the company is optimistic about its business prospects next year. In terms of revenue, it recorded a growth rate of about 35 percent between September and October this year.
Pharmvision has been with IBM's e-Incubator program since the computing giant established the scheme in Malaysia last May. The IBM e-Incubator Program is an extension of the IBM e-ISV 2000 Program, which provides e-business tools to independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop home-grown e-business applications.
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