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A local NHS board has approved the takeover by an “AI-powered” digital health company of a distance selling care home pharmacy that entered administration this year with £5m debts. 

UK-based MedPal AI, whose core product is a health data app offering personalised recommendations, first announced on October 1 that it was entering the online pharmacy market with its acquisition of Universal Pharmacy, pending approval by Norfalk and Waveney Integrated Care Board which was recently granted.  

Universal Pharmacy entered administration in August, with administrators Begbies Traynor LLP revealing in September that the troubled company was mired in debt and had failed to pay PAYE for over 30 months. 

MedPal Limited, a subsidiary of MedPal AI, bought Universal for £45,000 in cash for assets including leasehold property in the Norfolk town of Swaffham, goodwill and some equipment and stock, as well as Universal’s DSP licence. 

The company described the announcement as particularly significant given that June saw a ban introduced on new DSPs entering the market in England.

According to an October 1 statement, £15,000 was due on signing the agreement and the remaining £30,000 due upon the licence application being approved by the ICB. 

The company said last week that in its first 10 days of operating it dispensed nearly 15,000 prescription items, marking a turnaround from July when under its previous ownership Universal Pharmacy dispensed just 72 items according to NHS Business Services Authority data. 

MedPal chief executive Jason Drummond said the company hopes to use its partnerships with fitness brands Epassi and Independent Gym Network to facilitate further growth in its prescription customer base, and that it also plans to generate revenue through a newly launched weight loss service. 

Ex-Tesco superintendent pharmacist Mile Rudin has been appointed director of online pharmacy at the company.

In the October 1 statement announcing the acquisition, Mr  Drummond said: "We are delighted to have been able to make this opportunistic yet strategically important acquisition.

“We will be making an investment into the business both to support its modernisation with the latest technology and to enable it to grow revenues rapidly. We also warmly welcome Mike Rudin as our new director of online pharmacy.  

“As one of the experienced senior superintendent pharmacists in the UK, Mike will be a major asset to MedPal AI and his expertise will be instrumental in driving our online pharmacy operations and revenues."