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A distance selling pharmacy servicing care homes processed “nearly 29,000 prescription orders” in November, its new owners have said – suggesting a dramatic increase after its items plummeted to just 72 in July. 

Artificial intelligence company MedPal AI paid £45,000 for Universal Pharmacy in October, buying the troubled business out of administration after it had built up £5.3m in debt and failed to pay PAYE for two and a half years. Norfolk ICB approved the acquisition in November.

In a December 4 statement, MedPal said the pharmacy – now rebranded as MedPal Pharmacy – dispensed 28,789 items in November, which it described as “strong month-on-month growth of more than 90 per cent” and a sign of growing public demand for “AI-enhanced pharmacy services”. 

According to NHS Business Services Authority data, Universal Pharmacy dispensed 72 items in July and no pharmacy with the same contractor code (FJ308) claimed for any prescriptions or services in August, the last month for which national data is available.

In April and May, Universal Pharmacy claimed for 17,968 and 17,202 items respectively before seeing items drop to 3,946 in June and 72 in July as it “effectively ceased to trade” due to its ongoing financial difficulties, administrators said. 

The December 4 statement from MedPal revealed the company had entered into an “ATM-like facility agreement” with Clear Capital worth a maximum of £2m over 24 months. 

MedPal AI CEO Jason Drummond said in the press release: “We are pleased with MedPal Limited’s performance to date, which shows continued strong growth in prescription volumes. 

“Processing nearly 29,000 prescription orders in November 2025 demonstrates the scalability of our automated dispensing infrastructure and validates our integrated healthcare model.

“The combination of our NHS contract, state-of-the-art robotic dispensing technology and AI-powered telehealth services continues to gain traction in the market. 

“In addition, the deployment of Google’s Vertex AI platform on WhatsApp Business positions MedPal.clinic as a highly technologically advanced online pharmacy.” 

Mr Drummond said the company is “focused on sustainable growth” and that the £2m ATM facility will “provide us with flexible funding to accelerate this, to expand our innovative offerings, and meet rising demand”. 

Mr Drummond did not respond to a request for comment for this story.