Online pharmacy DomZdrowia.pl begins to sell drugs available on prescription at prices 10-15% lower than traditional pharmacies. DomZdrowia.pl is a portfolio company of MCI Management S.A., which is investing in new technologies.
So far, DomZdrowia.pl has been offering Over-the-Counter (OTC) drugs available without a prescription as well as cosmetics, beauty products and diet supplements. Since June 1, 2006 DomZdrowia.pl has had on its offer also prescription medicine, which are sold on the basis of the original prescription sent by regular mail.
âDomZdrowia.pl guarantees the same professional level of customer care and advice provided by a qualified staff, as any ordinary pharmacy store. We offer our customers advice on the usage or dosage of the medicines they buy.â â explained Mr. MirosĹaw Ostrowski, (President of the Board of DomZdrowia.pl Sp. z o.o.) âThis is done by e-mail or telephone contact, as well as by adding to any sold product, information about dosage recommended by the doctor.â â he added.
The sale of prescription drugs in DomZdrowia.pl is the first step in the process of introduction electronic circulation of prescriptions, where a doctor would write a computer prescription, which then, would be sent directly to the pharmacy chosen by the patient.
As the electronic prescriptions used by online pharmacies will be more popular, the role of on line pharmacies will increase, as they price their products more competitively.
The extension of currently available offer of OTC drugs (without prescription), cosmetics and diet supplement to include prescription drugs was possible thanks to the cash injection from MCI Management SA fund. MCI holds in total 39.65% of the share capital of DomZdrowia.pl, which currently exceeds PLN 2.3 million (ca. 600,000 euro). The objective of the fund is to invest over PLN 2.5 million (620,000 euro) in the online pharmacy over 3 years.
The value of the market of OTC drugs, (which are available without a prescription), in Poland is estimated at about PLN 5 billion (1,25 billion euro). The market of prescription drugs is about 3 times bigger than the market of OTC drugs and its annual value exceeds PLN 15 billion (3,7 billion). The shareholders in DomZdrowia.pl estimate that ultimately â due to lower prices, convenience and discretion of shopping â the Internet channel can reach 1% – 3% market share held by traditional sale. These estimates are based on experiences of the online pharmacists from western markets.
DomZdrowia.pl operates also in the market of cosmetics, beauty products and diet supplements. The value of the cosmetic market in Poland in 2005 was estimated at over PLN 5 billion, and the Internet sales channel can reach 5% – 10% of the market share, as it is already experienced by more mature markets in the west.
More information:
MirosĹaw Ostrowski â President of the Board of DomZdrowia Sp. z o.o., mobile 601 965 205
Jacek Denkowski â Vice President of the Board of DomZdrowia Sp. z o.o., mobile 601 33 49 78