Jianke Opens Its First DTP Pharmacy to Capture the Prescription Drug Spillover Market

In July this year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released the “Work Allocation Plan for Key Tasks under the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry,” explicitly stating that medical institutions must not restrict the outflow of prescriptions. The trillion-yuan market expected to emerge from the outflow of prescription drugs has prompted many pharmaceutical e-commerce companies to make advance preparations and position themselves to capture this shifting demand. Recently, Jianke’s first DTP (Direct-to-Patient) pharmacy officially opened. Xie Fangmin, CEO of Jianke, announced that customers can purchase imported innovative and specialty oncology medications unavailable at hospitals or conventional pharmacies, while also receiving more professional pharmaceutical care services than those offered by ordinary pharmacies.

Although DTP pharmacies are still relatively rare in China, they have long been a mature prescription drug sales model abroad. Experts analyze that the complexity of prescription drugs imposes high requirements on DTC/DTP pharmacies; for instance, pharmacies must possess robust pharmaceutical care capabilities, including prescription review, medication counseling, medication adherence monitoring, and patient education. The DTC/DTP model for prescription drugs enables these medications to flow directly from pharmaceutical manufacturers to pharmacies, and ultimately reach consumers through these pharmacies.

Jianke, a pharmaceutical e-commerce platform that has long prioritized its online operations as its core business, is recently accelerating its expansion into offline channels. Last month, Jianke opened its 20th physical pharmacy. The company’s first DTP (Direct-to-Patient) pharmacy, which officially commenced operations recently, represents another strategic move in Jianke’s O2O (Online-to-Offline) layout.

Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies, DTP (Direct-to-Patient) pharmacies allow customers to purchase imported innovative specialty drugs for oncology. “Due to systemic constraints, not all imported drugs are currently available in hospitals, particularly some new oncology medications. However, these drugs demonstrate strong efficacy, and there is significant patient demand,” said Xie Fangmin. DTP pharmacies have emerged as a market model specifically designed to address this unmet need.

“Many of the imported innovative specialty oncology drugs are injectables, which have stringent cold chain equipment requirements and thus entail higher investment than conventional pharmacy medications,” introduced Xie Fangmin. In addition to providing imported innovative specialty oncology drugs and cold chain services, DTP pharmacies will also offer more specialized pharmaceutical care services.

The DTC/DTP model imposes higher requirements on pharmacy pharmacists, while also promising an enhanced pharmaceutical care experience for patients. Xie Fangmin believes that, in the future, information technology will be leveraged alongside a professional pharmaceutical service team to provide one-stop, diversified pharmaceutical care services to DTC medication members.

Industry insiders state that, against the backdrop of the new healthcare reform, the DTC/DTP model for prescription drugs provides timely access to specialized prescription medications often unavailable in hospitals, thereby opening a new channel to meet the extensive needs of patients. Meanwhile, it has expanded new frontiers for enhancing pharmaceutical commercial marketing and facilitating service transformation, representing a significant innovation in business models.

Xie Fangmin revealed that Jianke’s first specially established DTP pharmacy is located next to Dongguan Kanghua Hospital, and the second DTP pharmacy planned for opening will be situated next to Dongguan Donghua Hospital, with plans to gradually expand this business model across Guangdong province and throughout China.