Founded by entrepreneur Leonora O’Brien, Pharmapod makes software for pharmacies to prevent medication errors.

Irish medical technology start-up Pharmapod was acquired by Toronto-based Think Research in order to expand its business in Canada.

Founded by entrepreneur Leonora O’Brien in 2012, Pharmapod is a SaaS company that manufactures software to prevent medication errors and helps improve communication and knowledge sharing between pharmacies to improve patient safety. .

The acquisition closed on November 4 as part of a receivership process involving Think, Pharmapod, a designated receiver, and Think’s European subsidiary. The total financial value of the transaction was approximately C $ 1 million in cash and shares.

Shortly after its inception, NDRC graduate Pharmapod began to make the news, O’Brien winning the first European prize at the Global Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards in 2013. In 2014, Pharmapod entered into an agreement with the National UK Pharmacy Association.

In 2021, Pharmapod served more than 9,000 pharmacies in Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia, including 7,400 in Canada alone, or 65% of all Canadian pharmacies. It also operates an online retail service in the United States.

“Exciting period of growth”

Think said Pharmapod’s comprehensive suite of data capture tools for clinicians is valuable to its customers and will help Think’s ability to expand its digital footprint of referrals. In September, Think acquired Canadian contract research firm BioPharma for approximately $ 44.6 million.

CEO Sachin Aggarwal said Think is going through an exciting period of growth and expanding globally to transform digital healthcare. “We see great synergies with Pharmapod and look forward to expanding our offerings to our growing network of international clinicians. “

The digital health SaaS went public last year after it was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in December 2020. Its acquisition of Pharmapod is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance as an “accelerated acquisition.”

In 2018, Pharmapod raised € 1.95 million from the Canadian Pharmacists Association to help Canadian pharmacies enter the digital age. The association said that the Pharmapod platform was chosen for the investment because of its robust, intuitive and highly scalable qualities.

The company had recently won a tender to implement a medication error reporting system in more than 4,300 pharmacies in Ontario, or 45% of Canadian pharmacies at the time, as part of what was the largest drug safety program of its kind in Canada.

“Medication errors are a huge problem throughout the healthcare system, not just in the pharmacy. Here in Ireland, for example, medication errors are responsible for about 25% of litigation against GPs, ”O’Brien said at the time.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to be successful. Subscribe to Brief Daily, the compendium of essential scientific and technological news from Silicon Republic.