Next-Gen Product Distribution

Local technologists are transforming health product distribution in emerging economies, but global changemakers struggle to understand how to engage and support them.
1200

innovators tracked by Salient Advisory

11

explorations, deals, investments or partnerships that we’ve directly informed

Local start-ups promise to change the trajectory of health product distribution but understanding the strengths of these innovations is challenging.

Innovators in low- and middle-income countries are increasingly leveraging digital product marketplaces, pay-as-you-go financing, vendor-managed inventory services, direct-to-consumer e-pharmacies, distributed mechanisms for quality assurance and more. These services seek to improve the affordability, availability, quality and access to essential health products through commercially sustainable models. However, global stakeholders such as donors, pharma, impact investors, think tanks and INGOs lack a clear understanding of the landscape and how to engage, limiting potential public health impact. 

Market intelligence enables informed engagement, helping accelerate public health goals.

We actively track locally-driven innovations in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond to analyze trends and relevance to public health programs. We produce market intelligence reports and explore mechanisms to drive investment, interest and engagement from the global community and bolster local entrepreneurship. Recent work has looked at ways in which innovators working at the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis are leveraging tech-enabled solutions to reduce market fragmentation, ease clinical burden on public facilities, and keep consumers informed as the situation rapidly unfolds.

OUR PARTNERS INCLUDE

Featured Projects

Market intelligence: tracking innovations in product distribution

Tracking emergence and impact of tech start-ups in distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Feasibility study: can a blended financing fund help improve distribution?

Assessing potential investment mechanisms for mid-sized wholesalers and innovators in distribution with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its partners

Pandemic response: the roles of innovators in distribution

Examining the landscape of innovations in health product distribution emerging as a response to COVID-19 outbreaks across countries in Asia and Africa

Investment strategy: drug shops as critical access points for contraceptives

Designing strategy to engage the private sector to accelerate access to contraception and primary care in Nigeria with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

LATEST THINKING