20 Growing Pharmacy Startups in 2023
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The global pharmaceutical industry reached new heights in 2022, generating $1.48 trillion in revenue. This upward revenue trend is expected to continue into 2023.
With changing healthcare landscapes and the onset of new technologies, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, there has been a steep rise in the number of pharmacy startups.
We’ve rounded up some of the best pharma startups to keep an eye on in 2023.
1. Fullscript
5-year search growth: 465%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2011
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Funding: $267M (Private Equity)
What they do: Fullscript is a digital platform that provides integrative and functional medicine practitioners with a comprehensive solution for prescribing and dispensing professional-grade supplements and other natural health products. The platform offers a user-friendly interface for managing patient prescriptions, ordering products, and accessing clinical resources. Fullscript also provides compliance support and product fulfillment services, making it a popular choice for practitioners looking to enhance their patient care and practice efficiency.
2. PharmEasy
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2015
Location: Mumbai, India
Funding: $1.6B (Debt Financing)
What they do: As a digital health startup, PharmEasy is looking to simplify healthcare in India. Through various partnerships and providers, the startup has created a steady supply chain that allows users to receive medicine, tests, consultations, and healthcare products from vetted pharmacies and clinics. According to their website, they have a presence in over 1,000 Indian cities and 80,000+ pharmacy partners.
3. Capital Rx
5-year search growth: 3400%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2017
Location: New York, NY
Funding: $203M (Series C)
What they do: Capital Rx is a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) platform that provides a transparent and cost-effective solution for managing prescription drug benefits. The platform offers innovative pricing models and a user-friendly interface for managing formularies, claims processing, and member engagement. Capital Rx's unique approach to PBM has earned it recognition as a disruptor in the industry, and has helped businesses save money on healthcare costs while improving the quality of care for their members.
4. MRM Health
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2020
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Funding: $17.8M (Grant)
What they do: MRM Health is a biotech company that focuses on microbiome-based therapeutics. Their proprietary technology aims to combine specific microbial strains into Optimized Consortia. Furthermore, a unique manufacturing and optimization process works toward creating a single drug substance. MRM Health received $14M in 2020 in its collaboration with DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences.
5. EyeNetra
5-year search growth: -100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2011
Location: Cambridge, MA
Funding: $7.1M (Series A)
What they do: EyeNetra aims to make eye exams more accessible and convenient. The company offers three devices in their Netra kit, including an autorefractor, handheld phoropter, and a digital lensometer. Aside from that, they offer an online portal for keeping track of and recording user readings. EyeNetra claims that its products are active in 133 countries.
6. Capsule
5-year search growth: 72%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2016
Location: New York, New York
Funding: $570M (Series D)
What they do: Capsule is a digital pharmacy startup that delivers medications directly to customers' doors. The platform offers a user-friendly app for managing prescriptions, as well as features for transferring existing prescriptions, scheduling refills, and communicating with pharmacists. Capsule also offers competitive pricing, free same-day delivery in select cities, and personalized support to make the pharmacy experience more convenient and customer-friendly.
7. Tricog Health
5-year search growth: -33%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2014
Location: Singapore, Singapore
Funding: $23.5M (Series C)
What they do: Tricog Health is a predictive healthcare analytics firm that provides virtual cardiology services to remote clinics. The startup is working toward reducing cardiac deaths using its product, InstaECG. According to their website, it allows them to identify over 200+ cardiac conditions across several hospitals and clinics. Tricog Health raised $10.5M in Series B funding in March 2020.
8. Lyndra Therapeutics
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2015
Location: Watertown, MA
Funding: $163.3M (Series C)
What they do: Lyndra Therapeutics is a drug development company that aims to develop longer-lasting medicine, which can reduce the number of times people need to take doses. Their goal is to help patients adhere to prescriptions that are hard to keep track of. Lyndra Therapeutics recently raised $60.5M in a Series C round.
9. EpiEndo
5-year search growth: 0%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2014
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Funding: $33M (Series A)
What they do: EpiEndo is a pharma startup that develops epithelial barrier enhancing drugs. The goal of the company is to help treat chronic respiratory diseases. EpiEndo has developed macrolide candidate NCEs that can be ingested orally. They act as disease-modifying therapeutics for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The startup raised $23.3M in Series A funding in August 2021.
10. Eagle Genomics
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2008
Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Funding: $39.9M (Series Unknown)
What they do: As an enterprise software solutions company, Eagle Genomics aims to establish a platform for exchanging scientific data-derived assets. The startup is working toward creating a platform-driven ecosystem where scientists and companies can use, share, and utilize microbiome data to create pharmaceuticals. Eagle Genomics won the AI Champion title in the Business Weekly 2021 awards.
11. Minoryx Therapeutics
5-year search growth: 0%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2011
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Funding: $141.7M (Series C)
What they do: Minoryx Therapeutics focuses on drug discovery and drug development for severe central nervous system diseases. The startup is currently focusing on their novel treatment - selective PPAR gamma agonist, leriglitazone. The clinical-stage treatment is expected to work against several orphan CNS disorders. In May 2021, Minoryx Therapeutics raised $51M through Series C funding.
12. Axial Therapeutics
5-year search growth: 0%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2016
Location: Woburn, MA
Funding: $115.9M (Series C)
What they do: As a biotech startup, Axial Therapeutics utilizes the microbiome to develop drugs for neurological disorders and diseases. Their work focuses on the development of small molecule drugs that target gut microbiology and help impact the pathology, symptoms, and progression of various neurological disorders. Recently, Axial Therapeutics raised $37.25M in Series C funding.
13. ROME Therapeutics
5-year search growth: -100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2020
Location: Cambridge, MA
Funding: $127M (Series B)
What they do: Rome Therapeutics aims to develop treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases by exploring the repeatome. The company’s belief is that 60% of the human genome that has repetitive sequences of nucleic acid can be targeted through specialized medicine. Rome Therapeutics raised $77M in Series B funding by Section 32 in September 2021.
14. 3Z Pharmaceuticals
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2008
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Funding: $3.7M (Seed)
What they do: Focusing on CNS disorders, 3Z Pharmaceuticals discovers novel drug candidates using behavioral genetics and disease modeling. The startup also focuses on drug repositioning - researching existing licensed drugs to figure out new medical avenues and uses. In its most recent seed funding round, 3Z Pharmaceuticals raised $2M.
15. AceCann
5-year search growth: 0%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2019
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Funding: $15M (Seed)
What they do: AceCann provides medical cannabis products in Europe. Their process of creating these products starts with organic cultivation. After that, the cultivated substance is processed, extracted, and turned into medical cannabis products. The startup also researches new ways to utilize medicinal marijuana. AceCann recently received $15M in seed funding.
16. MAYD Group
5-year search growth: 112%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2021
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Funding: $47.8M (Series A)
What they do: As a medication management solution provider, MAYD helps users quickly find information on healthcare products. The startup partners with small-scale pharmacies to manage localized deliveries. MAYD received $30M in Series A funding from 468 Capital and others.
17. ReCode Therapeutics
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2015
Location: Dallas, TX
Funding: $422M (Series Unknown)
What they do: ReCode Therapeutics is a biotech company that develops disease-modifying therapies against respiratory diseases. It’s an integrated genetic medicines company and is currently focusing on cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia. ReCode Therapeutics recently closed an $80M series B funding round.
18. Truepill
5-year search growth: 1900%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2016
Location: Hayward, CA
Funding: $255.4M (Series D)
What they do: Truepill is a digital health platform that provides end-to-end solutions for the development, delivery, and management of direct-to-patient healthcare products and services. The platform offers a variety of services, including telehealth, pharmacy fulfillment, and custom packaging and labeling, among others. Truepill's scalable and customizable solutions make it a popular choice for healthcare providers, payers, and other businesses looking to expand their digital health offerings and improve patient access to care.
19. Alto Pharmacy
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2015
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $560M (Series E)
What they do: Alto Pharmacy is a digital healthcare company that provides a modern and personalized pharmacy experience. The platform offers a variety of services, including free delivery, medication management, and 24/7 support from licensed pharmacists. Alto Pharmacy's user-friendly app and online platform make it easy to manage prescriptions and access quality care from the comfort of one's own home.
20. Exo Therapeutics
5-year search growth: -100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2020
Location: Cambridge, MA
Funding: $103M (Series B)
What they do: As a small molecule drug discovery and development company, Exo Therapeutics focuses on utilizing druggable enzymes. The startup aims to modulate enzyme activity in oncology. Their ExoSight platform helps develop a pipeline of potent drug candidates that bind exosites. This helps reprogram enzyme activity, leading to a precise therapeutic effect. Exo Therapeutics recently raised $78M in Series B financing.
Conclusion
That concludes our list of the top pharmacy startups transforming healthcare right now.
The introduction of AI-powered diagnostics, clinical trials, and drug development systems has brought a new wave of biopharma advancements.
It’s safe to say that many new pharma startups will launch as the demand for new drugs, vaccines, and therapies continue to rise.
