PillPack Raises $4M in Bid to Become Top Mail-Order Pharmacy

46 points by threejay 11 years ago | 24 comments
  • hoopism 11 years ago
    My wife is a Pharmacist dual licensed in Mass and NH and in love with this idea. She's going to get in touch but if someone from PillPack is on here let me know. You'll get a career startup software developer as an addon ;).

    Really cool stuff.

    • threejay 11 years ago
      Awesome! Founder here - would love to hear from you / her! Shoot me an email tj at pillpack dot com.
      • dzink 11 years ago
        Threejay, we met via Skype at one of the advisory sessions you had during TechStars (I was with one of the VC firms). Great job executing! Let me know if you need referrals to pharmacists or doctors for any reason (or pharm/med schools).
    • gz5 11 years ago
      Very nice. This will help many people. My mom has done home healthcare (as an RN) and always says the most common problem is the ability for folks to get the correct meds at the correct doses at the correct time without help.

      Combining with some drones (Amazon or otherwise) and sensors could make some interesting scenarios for more time sensitive and ephemeral med needs...

      • jordancsmith 11 years ago
        PillPack developer here: I'm imagining our office in complete chaos as we test delivery drones. Excuse me as I head over to YouTube to watch quadrotor videos :)
      • malandrew 11 years ago
        I've been getting Xyrem from a central pharmacy for a while now and it's awesome that I can call one day and have my medicine arrive the next day via FedEx. Being able to get all medications with the same convenience as Amazon Prime is awesome. If this doesn't get hit with any regulatory issues, I can totally see Amazon knocking on their door one day and making an acquisition offer.

        We'll still need pharmacies for immediate medical needs that can't wait a day, but for everything else this is great.

        I now just wish ordering wines and spirits online wasn't fraud with regulatory hurdles paying local retail at BevMo is a lot less attractive than being able to get your favorite bottle of small batch bourbon delivered to your front-door.

        • unwind 11 years ago
          That's nice. Here in Sweden, this is a standard way of delivering medications to those who need it pre-sorted for easier delivery. It also has environmental benefits, since the waste can be reduced.

          It's called "ApoDos" (which is just a portmonteau of the "apotek" which means pharmacy, and "dos" which means "dose"), here's a web page from Sweden's largest pharmacy: http://www.apoteketfarmaci.se/Tjanster/Service.aspx?UniqueId.... It's in Swedish but there's a picture of the delivery bags used, tney come on a roll in a plastic case.

        • arosenbaum 11 years ago
          So Express Scripts ($100B in annual sales) is going to get taken out by unit dose packaging? WalMart's pharmacy is also testing blister packs + multi-dose...I don't see how this displaces ESI...
          • refurb 11 years ago
            My question is what's to stop the existing mail order pharmacies from doing the same thing?

            My guess is that they'll get bought out if it takes off. Other pharmacies will copy the process.

            • malandrew 11 years ago
              I would imagine that the ideal scenario is someone designing completely automated equipment for dispensing pills, verifying the pill visually via OpenCV or other computer vision software and packing the pills in a box ready for delivery. This would do the same for mail-order medication as Kiva did for Amazon warehouse automation.
          • 11 years ago
            • ScottWhigham 11 years ago
              I like it but, if there was an FAQ, I'd sure like it better. Too many unanswered questions to bother though. Which meds? What states? What's the cost of the meds? etc
            • owenfi 11 years ago
              My hypothetical for solving this problem was some huge contraption that would electronically spit out the right pills when required. Pill Pack is so much more elegant. Can't wait to see them succeed!
              • rokhayakebe 11 years ago
                Pillpack is the 10-15 year plan.

                The 20 year is actual delivery within your body: take a pill once and it gradually releases the correct amount at the correct time with an option to flush it out of your system as well.

              • maroun 11 years ago
                "Mail order" seems like the tip of the iceberg of what these guys could do. I shouldn't have to use a pharmacy for my prescriptions or the supplements/vitamins I take.

                Love the design as well.

                • ckurdziel 11 years ago
                  Exactly. At first, it seems simple, but a lot of complexity behind the curtain and huge potential. Pharma and pharma distribution is a massive industry and provided they're able to scale and prove the model, they could go on to do a lot of other really interesting things.
                • frenchman_in_ny 11 years ago
                  How are you guys handling lot numbers of medication dispensed, in case of recall & whatnot?

                  Love the concept (spouse is a pharmacist, comes with the territory I guess).

                  • jcap49 11 years ago
                    love the comparison to apple & the notion that a design-forward brand (in this case, software enabling easy purchase of important consumer goods) can help tackle a traditionally archaic and bureaucratic space. super excited to see how things progress.