Phlo acquires UK assets of digital pharmacy rival Truepill

Digital pharmacy startup Phlo has acquired the UK assets of US rival Truepill for an undisclosed sum, hot off the heels of raising £10m in Series A funding last month.

Phlo has obtained Truepill’s NHS patient, APIs and prescribing technology in a consolidation of the digital pharmacy market. Phlo also gains Truepill’s partnerships with UK digital healthcare providers, such as the digital contraceptive platform The Lowdown.

Truepill, which is headquartered in San Mateo and achieved a unicorn valuation in 2021, said it made the sale to focus on its home market.

“As Truepill made the decision to focus on the US market, our priority was to ensure our UK patients, clients and staff faced as little disruption as possible,” said Shakil Ahmed, managing director of Truepill UK.

With its new prescribing software, Phlo will manage the prescribing, dispensing and delivery of medicine to the newly partnered platforms.

The medtech company has developed a digital pharmacy, which currently delivers medicine in Birmingham and London, with plans to launch in Manchester. Its digital pharmacy software is also used by third parties like Babylon.

Nadeem Sarwar, founder and CEO, Phlo, said: “We’re delighted that this market consolidation will enable further improvements to the excellent service that Phlo offers to patients and partners, and also allow us to extend that service by welcoming new patients and partners across the country.”

Ahmed added a commercial partnership between Phlo and Truepill will allow its US partners to launch in the UK.

Phlo said it has offered jobs to Truepill UK’s employees as part of the deal.

Read more: Founder in 5 with Phlo’s Nadeem Sarwar