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More than 1,700 pharmacies in the UK registered with the digital health platform Healthera are set to deliver over-the-counter medicines and health and beauty products to the public through the Uber Eats app.

Healthera said yesterday it had struck an agreement with Uber Eats that will allow its network of pharmacies to list thousands of OTC medicines and other retail products on its platform at no additional cost. Healthera said pharmacies will be able to deliver products to customers’ homes within 10 to 30 minutes.

The company said pharmacies in London, Manchester, Bolton, Lancaster, Newcastle and Bolton, “with participation from independent pharmacies and local pharmacy chains”, will start delivering products through the app this month. Healthera said it expects to start “mass roll-out and reach nation-wide coverage well within 2026”.

“Deep integration between Healthera Connect and Uber Eats ensures the pharmacy’s existing retail catalogue can be synched directly, while new products can be uploaded and clicked by a simple barcode scan,” Healthera said.

“Intelligent proprietary algorithms by Uber Eats and Healthera are deployed to optimise product categorisation to optimise sales, while ensuring customer clinical safety and delivery (service level agreement) fulfilment.”

Insisting the UK’s online pharmacy market was projected to reach £1.59 billion this year, Healthera said convenience is a “deciding factor in consumer purchase decisions”.

“In the UK, Uber Eats is available to over 90 per cent of the population with a growing health and pharmacy essentials category,” it said. Healthera CEO Quintus Liu said its partnership with Uber Eats will “help community pharmacies generate profit and beat consumer expectations”.

“With the tech infrastructure now in place, we’re looking forward to a swift roll-out across the UK and expanding this partnership to other markets where Healthera operates,” he said.