NetMeds

This acquisition will boost Netmeds expansion into a complete healthcare product and service company

Earlier in 2018, Netmeds has acquired a telemedicine startup JustDoc

The Chennai-based company will invest about $10 Mn in the latest acquisition

A Medical Innovation Fund should be created to promote innovation, say startups

Similar to the ecommerce sector, they want FDI norms in epharma to be relaxed

The government should take measures to check increasing medical inflation as well

Madras HC had put an interim ban on the online sale of medicines in October

The direction by Madras HC judge to notify the rules before January 31 remains in force

Delhi HC had extended its all-India ban on the online sale of medicines to January 9

In October, the Madras HC had issued a country-wide interim stay order on online pharmacies

Suspension of order by Madras HC comes a week after Delhi HC issued all-India ban on epharmacies

According to a report, online pharmacy contributes only 1% of total medicine sales in India

The Court reportedly said that there is no provision to sell drugs online

Madras High Court which already had issued similar order has reserved its verdict on the case

Meanwhile, Drug Technical Advisory Board approves draft ePharmacy regulation

Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association sought direction from authorities concerned to block links of websites that are selling medicines online

In its order, the court has directed the Centre to file its counterpoint and scheduled the next hearing

PharmEasy’s co-founder Dharmil Sheth told Inc42 that the actual court order is not yet available and at the outset, this seems to in line with the notification from CDSCO on Dec 30 2017.

With the fresh funding, Medikabazaar plans to strengthen its technology and increase its team size

It is also aiming to increase the number of its fulfilment centres to over 20

The platform also hopes to develop supply chain and logistics capability

All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) believes epharmacy supports drug abuse

Earlier this month, the Union Health Ministry released a notification, a set of new draft rules for epharmacies

Prashant Tandon, founder of healthtech startup 1Mg termed this “an unfortunate and irresponsible reaction by AIOCD.”

Netmeds will leverage the combined strengths of both companies by fully absorbing the JustDoc team

The JustDoc technology will be integrated with Netmeds and the new offering will roll out shortly

Netmeds will continue to expand the scope of its offerings to include diagnostics, lifestyle-related consulting and a patient ‘peer-to-peer’ social network channel

With $225 Mn funding, Udaan became the fastest startup to reach the unicorn status

Two other biggest funding rounds this week were raised by GreyOrange ($140 Mn) and Dream11 ($100 Mn)

In all, this week, 16 startups raised a total of $173 Mn funding and three acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem

It will be mandatory for epharma companies to store all their data locally

The notification makes epharma companies duty bound to provide such information to the central government or the state government

The latest amendment is in line with the draft Personal Data Protection Bill and DISHA Guidelines, says epharma startups

Existing investor Daun Penh was joined by Sistema Asia Fund, and Tanncam Investment in the Series C funding round

Prior to this funding, Netmeds raised $14 Mn from Tanncam Investment in October 2017

Netmeds offers both prescription drugs and non-prescription (OTC) products online