DC startup CaryRx hopes to disrupt prescription drug home delivery

WASHINGTON — CaryRx, a prescription drug delivery service that just launched in the Washington metro, thinks it can disrupt the drug delivery business by not delivering from your pharmacy, but by being the pharmacy itself.

By doing that, your prescription drugs can show up at your door in as little as 30 minutes, with no delivery charge.

“There are other companies that have gotten into this industry and tried to fix the problem of delivery to people directly, and it didn’t work for a lot of other companies because they were not the pharmacy so they were not making money selling medications,” CaryRx founder Areo Nazari told WTOP.

“That’s why we created this vertical solution where we are profiting off the drug and able to extend free delivery to our patients,” he said.

CaryRx — the name is a play on apothecary and “carry,” as in deliver — with a distribution center in downtown D.C., has partnered with Postmates for express deliveries, but app users can pre-schedule deliveries for designated days with a two-hour delivery window.

Its delivery area covers most of the Washington metro area.

The mobile app’s features include a secure live chat with its pharmacy team, prescription drug management and reminders.

“A lot of patients have trouble managing all of their prescriptions, so what we want to do is connect all the devices you have, including your Apple Watch, and you’ll get notifications telling you when to refill your prescriptions,” Nazari said.

CaryRx can deliver most prescriptions, including pain medications, but not opioid-based drugs.

Users of the mobile app have the same copay for their prescriptions and CaryRx accepts most insurance plans.

Nazari says CaryRx is backed by an angel investor and by an initial round of investments by friends and family.

D.C. is the first market for CaryRx, but it plans to expand to other markets soon.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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