Walgreens acquired the assets of the digital supernova pharmacy Medly Health for $19.35 million in bankruptcy proceedings. The deal did not include the company's retail assets, forcing the closure of all Pharmaca stores.
WHO: Barry Perzow founded Pharmaca in 2000 in Boulder, Colorado, as the nation's first integrative pharmacy chain offering traditional pharmacy services alongside natural and complementary health solutions, including natural health and beauty products. The store staff included licensed aestheticians, herbalists, naturopathic doctors, and homeopathic and traditional pharmacists.
Founded in 2017, Brooklyn-based Medly Health described itself as the nation's fastest-growing digital pharmacy. With a mission to democratize pharmacy access, the company was a full-service pharmacy that provided on-demand, same-day prescription delivery, validated and filed insurance claims, and worked directly with patients to manage adherence to medication and refills. The company operated four full-service digital pharmacies, 21 brick-and-mortar, full-service specialty pharmacies serving 20 markets across nine states, and one health and wellness store in Seattle. Medly Health also operated an e-commerce business through the Pharmaca.com.
WHY: Medly had plans to disrupt drugstore giants like CVS and Walgreens, raising $110 million from investors, but the post-pandemic business landscape left the company mired in about $100 million in debt. Medly Health filed in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2022 for Medly Health and 31 of its affiliates, including Pharmaca, listing $11.4 million in assets and $105.6 million in liabilities.
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