In a response to questions posed by The Sunday Guardian, HLL Lifecare Limited, the agency under which such pharmacies operate, said, “Due to the high discounts offered to patients, there is a lot of resistance and opposition from local chemists and druggists located just outside the hospitals and from distributors as well. In addition, there has been resistance from some of the key stakeholders to purchase drugs and implants from AMRIT stores (stents, trauma care and ortho implants etc).”
As per the data jointly provided by HLL and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, approximately 1.87 million patients have benefited from 84 AMRIT pharmacies over a period of one year.
A senior official of the Indian Pharmacist Association said, “Pharmacists are all for patients and their well-being. We are aware of a patient’s need and troubles. But on this matter, I will not prefer to comment on this. There are some important issues like prevalence of online pharmacies etc., where we have voiced our reservations. But as of now, I cannot say how many pharmacists have objected to the AMRIT model.”
The AMRIT Retail Pharmacy Scheme was announced by Prime Minister Modi in November 2015, to reduce the cost of treating cases of cancer and heart diseases.
According to HLL, as on 30 April 2017, the total MRP value of medicines sold to patients is Rs 179.33 crore, while the total sale value is Rs 73.38 crore. The approximate money that patients could save on medicines is Rs 105.95 crore, while employment was generated for 466 people.
Currently, drugs pertaining to other specialties such as diabetes, neuro, gastro, nephro, psychiatry etc., are also being made available at AMRIT pharmacies based on requirements from the medical institutions in which they operate. HLL Lifecare Limited said: “In cancer and cardio-vascular drugs, AMRIT offers the most affordable rates in the country.”
The other challenge that AMRIT pharmacies face in expansion is the space crunch at hospitals. HLL Lifecare Limited said, “The space provided at hospitals is limited with a maximum of five counters which can serve only 600 patients per day. Many patients cannot wait for a long period to get medicines; hence they leave to buy from outside pharmacies and pay at MRP.”
Compared to the number of benefactors, HLL Lifecare Limited said, “Some complaints have come to us because people don’t have the right information about the discounted prices on drug price control orders (DPCO) regulated products such as Albumin where the discounts are around 10%, but customers expect 40% for these products. Not all specialty drugs are made available; hence there are some complaints about non-availability of drugs. Many complaints are motivated and instigated by a few stakeholders who are affected by the presence of AMRIT pharmacies in hospitals. ”
Explaining the business model of AMRIT pharmacies, HLL Lifecare Limited said: “AMRIT pharmacies are able to offer drugs at lower prices in two ways—first, through procurement efficiency, wherein all products are aggregated and purchased in bulk, helping in gaining lower procurement costs. Secondly, AMRIT pharmacies work on a small mark-up on the procurement cost. The channel margins such as retailer margin of 20% and distributor margin of 10% are passed on to consumers as discounts, except on DPCO products.”
To ensure that the discounted drugs do not lose out on quality, HLL Lifecare Limited said that generic drugs, which are procured from local manufacturers, are tested in NABL accredited labs. Local drug inspectors regularly visit the pharmacies and draw samples for testing and there has been no incident of any batch failure.
As far as expansion plans are concerned, HLL Lifecare Limited said: “Currently, AMRIT pharmacies are 84 in number and by FY 2017-18, there would be another 66 company-owned and operated outlets. We are also in the process of rolling out another 100 franchisee AMRIT outlets in Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat.”