UK pharms industry creates online marketplace

NEWS An online marketplace for the UK pharmaceuticals industry, called Unipharma.net, has been launched today, to aid independent pharmacists nationwide. Developed by ebusiness specialists, Inform Software Systems, the site will provide a single point of purchase for medicine and supplies to thousands of independent pharmacists, chains and buying groups, avoiding lengthy paper-based catalogue systems. The system will allow wholesalers to input variations in prices on a daily basis, with the updates appearing online instantaneously. Currently six, as yet unnamed, UK wholesale suppliers are on board, but more are expected to follow in the coming months. Unipharma.net is built on an Enterprise Java Framework and Sun Enterprise Server platform. Rob Walker, managing director of Inform, is confident the system will provide the levels of security and privacy that are crucial for this venture. The Glasgow-based site already boasts a number of innovation awards, and a survey of Scottish independent pharmacists concluded that 90 per cent would be keen to use the system.