“Protek” deleted electronic prescriptions

Atlas Investments, associated with Protek, one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in the Russian Federation, exited the business of Medikata, an electronic prescription operator. The service could not justify the hopes of a major investor, market participants believe. The fact is that such operators still simply have nothing to earn on. Regions are not actively connecting to the system of electronic prescriptions, and an experiment on online sales of prescription drugs that can spur the process has not yet been launched.

On August 17, Atlas Investments withdrew from the capital of Medikata, an electronic prescription operator, where they have owned 61% since January 2021, Kommersant was found in the SPARK-Interfax database. This share passed to Medicate itself. Another 21.8% of the service is still owned by Sergei Merkulov, 6.08% each by Damir Engalychev and Alexei Soshnin, and 5% by CEO Boris Gorodetsky.

The Ministry of Health launched an electronic prescription system in 2019 for public and private medical institutions. Based on the data, a QR code is generated, with which you can purchase a medicine or get it at a pharmacy for free. The legality of the prescription is confirmed by the digital signature of the attending physician.

Medicata was created in the first year of the system’s launch. The service offered its platform for the transition to electronic prescriptions to the authorities of Moscow, Moscow and Belgorod regions, which should launch an experiment on remote sale of prescription drugs in 2023. The revenue of Medikata in 2021 amounted to 22.3 million rubles, the net loss was 79.3 million rubles.

Atlas Investments is associated with the Protek Group of Companies, which includes, among other things, the pharmaceutical distributor of the same name and the Rigla pharmacy chain. The company is owned by Andrey Perfiliev, the ex-general director of the Atlas clinic, bought by Protek in 2020. Now he has 3% in Zdravcity LLC, where 94% belongs to the distribution division of CV Protek. Protek did not comment on the investor’s withdrawal from the Medicata business. The general director of the service, Boris Gorodetsky, forwarded Kommersant’s questions to Andrei Perfiliev, who declined to comment.

In 2020, Medicata acquired a competitor, First Electronic Prescription, where Alexey Repik’s R-Pharm now owns 51%. The service works with 31 regions, said Kirill Khromov, Managing Director.

In addition, this year the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Digital Transformation announced the launch of a federal register of medical prescriptions, which will collect information on all electronic prescriptions issued. The operator of the system should be Tsifrozdrav, where 51% belongs to the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (CRPT) and 49% belongs to MIG Digital, the structure of Pharmstandard of Viktor Kharitonin. The CRPT explained to Kommersant that the basis of their database will be the data of regional operators.

The reasons for the exit of the Protek structure from the Medicata business could be the failure of the service to fulfill the covenants achieved during the conclusion of transactions, a Kommersant source from among the top managers of the pharmaceutical market believes. For Medicata, according to him, cooperation with Protek was important because of access to the ecosystem built by the group, which includes clinics and pharmacy chains.

In July, Boris Gorodetsky admitted to Pharmvestnik that the regional authorities do not help Medikata “regulatory and administratively.” “When this does not happen, the results that the private partner expects are not achieved,” he explained. He also stated that the service is refocusing on the commercial segment. At the same time, the company, according to him, is looking for an investor.

The system of electronic prescriptions now has no source of financing, the CEO of DSM Group Sergey Shulyak points out. Players in this market planned to charge pharmacies, but so far this process has been delayed, he explains. In addition, the expert explains, the regions require the integration of electronic prescriptions with a single medical information and analytical system at the expense of companies. And this means, Mr. Shulyak believes, that operators are forced to spend their funds at a stage when they are not yet receiving income.

Polina Gritsenko