It’s undeniable that managing medications can be a burden, especially if you’re prescribed to take multiple drugs every day. PillPack, a three-year-old startup based in the Boston area that mails prescription medications to patients across the country, has built software that it says makes the process of filling prescriptions, monitoring insurance claims, and eases communications between insurers, doctors, and patients.
Called Pharmacy OS, PillPack’s new software is replacing third-party software it previously used, which filled one prescription at a time and limited the company’s ability to scale its packaging of medications. Now, PillPack says its software can monitor multiple medications simultaneously on behalf of patients, making it so they don’t have to work with pharmacists to fill each prescription individually. The company still mails all the medications to the patients in daily individual packets, which are placed in a dispenser that PillPack sells to patients for $29.
PillPack, which has business operations in Somerville, MA, and a primary pharmacy in Manchester, NH, says it expects to reach $100 million in revenue this year with its service, which it says is the only independent pharmacy to work with customers nationally, according to a blog post from CEO and co-founder TJ Parker. The company has raised $118 million in venture funding from a group of investors that includes Accel Partners, Atlas Venture, CRV, Founder Collective, Menlo Ventures, Sherpa Ventures, according to a spokesperson.
Pharmacy management is an increasingly crowded space. Many companies offer similar services to PillPack, ranging from delivery to online prescriptions, according to a chart posted on Twitter by one angel investor. Boston-based ZappRx has taken the same strategy for ordering and refilling specialty medications.
PillPack’s software can also handle claims for medications, and help make sure prescriptions are renewed and active prescriptions are on file.
