A prescription for speed: How e-pharmacies aim to transform medicine delivery

India's quick commerce revolution that swept up groceries to gadgets and posed a stiff challenge to retail chains and kirana shops in barely three years is now lapping at a new frontier: Medicine delivery.

Tata 1mg, PharmEasy, and Apollo 24/7 are piloting ultra-fast medicine delivery services, according to key executives at these firms. Leveraging partnerships and advanced logistics, these companies aim to offer prescriptions as quickly as groceries or gadgets—potentially reshaping healthcare accessibility.

Tata Digital-owned 1mg is teaming up with BigBasket to test quick medicine delivery in select cities by December. “We will pilot in a couple of cities by end December-early January and roll out to all cities by end January," Hari Menon, co-founder and CEO of BigBasket, told Mint in an emailed response.

Tata 1mg currently offers prescription and over-the-counter medicines, along with doctor consults and lab tests. A senior executive from Tata 1mg said that the platform currently delivers medicines in 30-60 minutes from its retail stores in Gurugram. Additionally, quick lab tests for fever panels are available in select cities.

“For fever panels, consumers need to know the soonest to determine the course of treatment, so quicker service does help them. Consequently, we are seeing a significant uptake of such services," the executive said.

Apollo 24/7, too, has introduced a faster delivery pilot in major markets, including Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.

“We have launched a new proposition of 19 minutes delivery of medicines across select pin codes spread across five cities," Madhivanan Balakrishnan, CEO of Apollo HealthCo, which runs the Apollo 24/7 app, told Mint in a written response. The platform has seen a significant rise in demand in the locations where the pilot was launched in June this year, Balakrishnan said.

Swiggy is piloting a partnership with PharmEasy to deliver medicines in under 10 minutes in Bengaluru, using Instamart’s dark stores.

However, it is unclear whether Tata 1mg’s partnership with BigBasket will use 1mg’s existing infrastructure or rely on BigBasket’s dark stores. A top executive indicated they plan to leverage the combined strengths of both the companies—1mg’s expertise in pharmaceutical delivery and BigBasket’s quick commerce.

Hurdles on the way

But for ultra-fast medicine delivery to take off fully, critical issues around inventory management, medicine storage, and regulatory compliance need careful attention. Companies will need to address challenges like ensuring that medicines are stored under the right conditions and that rapid delivery times don’t compromise safety standards as they scale.

These operational hurdles are particularly crucial as regulators and consumers alike will expect that safety isn’t sacrificed for speed.

“Addressing these challenges requires advanced technology and strong operational strategies," Balakrishnan said. Apollo 24/7, for example, is focused on real-time stock visibility and efficient route coordination to support fast delivery times.

The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has raised concerns about the quick delivery model, especially around prescription verification, warning of potential risks if safety measures are bypassed. In a letter to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), AIOCD cited the recent Swiggy-PharmEasy partnership as an example of these risks.

A regulatory framework for e-pharmacies is still in the works, though a June ruling from the Madras High Court in favour of online platforms could pave the way for more formalized guidelines.

The demand for speed

Quick delivery platforms have outpaced the broader market in growth, which could bode well for time-sensitive items like pharmaceuticals.

“If you take that as a predictor, for pharma, which can be time sensitive—particularly over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and pediatric applications—there will be a very good demand," Sujay Shetty, PwC Global Health Industries advisory leader and India Health Industries leader, PwC India, told Mint.

Shetty noted that partnerships between quick delivery platforms and e-pharmacies could help tackle regulatory and logistical hurdles. While e-pharmacies have existing logistics and regulatory permissions in place, faster delivery times require sophisticated demand forecasting and planning—already being refined within quick commerce.

This drive for faster service is translating into financial growth.

Tata 1mg’s operating revenue rose 21% to ₹1,968 crore in FY24, driven by online medicine sales, while net loss narrowed to ₹313 crore in FY24.

Apollo HealthCo’s revenue grew 17% year-on-year in Q2FY25, partly driven by Apollo 24/7. The platform’s gross merchandise value (GMV) rose 2% on-year to ₹757 crore. The firm said it had been able to bring down Ebitda loss from ₹169 crore to ₹100 crore in the online business in the September quarter.

The online pharma industry in India is still nascent, with e-pharmacies accounting for only 2-3% of the country’s total pharmacy sales in 2023, according to a report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).

However, the e-pharmacy market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 44%, reaching $4.5 billion by 2025. This potential has spurred investor interest: in April, private equity firm Advent International invested ₹2,475 crore in Apollo HealthCo, which includes Apollo 24/7 and its pharma distribution arm.

Traditional pharmacies

Much like the local kiranas, or neighbourhood stores, traditional pharmacies may also feel the impact of quick commerce as they compete with the speed and convenience of online delivery.

According to a recent report, over 200,000 small retailers have shuttered amid the rise of e-commerce, according to the All-India Consumer Products Distributors Federation. While e-pharmacies currently account for just a fraction of pharmacy sales, that share is expected to grow rapidly as the sector draws increasing investment.

More here | Despair in kiranas as quick commerce roars ahead

But not everyone is ready to embrace these changes. Many consumers still prefer their neighbourhood pharmacies for the speed and personal connection they offer.

Bengaluru-based Sameera Kamulkar, 52, orders medication for her father in Mumbai via the Tata 1mg app but says, 'When it’s for us, I usually get it from my chemist in 15-20 minutes…I just WhatsApp him." She added that she might consider switching to online platforms if they began offering faster deliveries.

Quick commerce platforms are rapidly scaling up to include more offerings and increase average order values (AOVs) as demand rises. According to an October report by financial services firm Nomura, the gross order value (GOV) in the quick commerce space is projected to grow by around 120% year-on-year in FY26. Zomato’s CEO Deepinder Goyal said in March that their quick commerce business, Blinkit, is expected to outsize their food delivery operations by 2025.

For now, brick-and-mortar pharmacies remain resilient. “Brick-and-mortar pharmacies are still very much there...there will be some impact, but it’s too soon to say," Shetty noted, highlighting the uncertain impact of these changes on traditional pharmacy businesses.

Scaling quick healthcare services

It's not just pharmacies adopting a quick delivery model; rapid healthcare services may also see a rise in the near future. 

Also read | The rise of quick commerce has left us with a bagful of questions

Hyderabad-based Red.Health, India’s leading ambulance service startup, is expanding into quick emergency healthcare services. Red.Health already offers ambulances in under 15 minutes across over 20 cities, and they’re now piloting services for emergency checkups within eight minutes in Hyderabad, scheduled to launch in mid-November. 

“There’s a lot of interest from investors too around this," said Prabhdeep Singh, CEO of Red.Health.