Trxade (MEDS) betting big on its new health passport app

With COVID-19 vaccination taking place on a full-fledged scale across the country, the Joe Biden administration had last month announced its commitment to developing a ‘vaccination passport’ application that would enable airlines, event organizers, etc. to verify the status of customers. Trxade Group (NASDAQ: MEDS) is looking forward to leveraging the interest in the product through the global launch of its own health passport application – MedCheks –  expected later the month.

In an interview with AlphaStreet, CEO of the integrated drug procurement and delivery firm Suren Ajjarapu said the application has reached the final stages of development and is based on blockchain technology and state-of-the-art encryption mechanisms.

“It’s free for the consumers to use the app, but the business has to pay for it. Our model is a penny per scan, all the way through 10 cents per scan, depending on the country and where they are going,” Ajjarapu said.

The Tampa, Florida-based firm had recently appointed James Ram, a technology entrepreneur with experience in fully biometric ePassport, to lead the MedCheks business and develop the application. Trxade hopes to be among the first to hit the market as very few organizations – such as IBM (NYSE: IBM) and touchless ID platform Clear – have so far made headway into a vaccination passport.

Capital flow into telemedicine

Besides MedCheks, the CEO said the management is likely to deploy more capital into its telemedicine app Bonum Health throughout 2021. “On the Bonum Health side, our competition is spending millions of dollars on advertising with a low adoption rate. Our strategy is partnering with retail guys so that they are pushing our product, which will help achieve a high adoption rate with a low dollar spread,” The executive pointed out.

Earlier this week, the company announced full-year 2020 revenues of $17.1 million, which was 130% higher than a year ago. The topline growth was driven by the strength of its Trxade Platform, as well as the demand for PPE during the pandemic period. Meanwhile, net loss widened during the quarter due to costs associated with the expansion into B2C sales and goodwill impairment.

For more insights into Trxade, read the latest earnings call transcript

Expanding market

Interestingly, Trxade added 328 new registered members to its platform in the fourth quarter, ending with a total count of over 11,800. This accounts for over 50% of market penetration into independent pharmacies nationwide. Ajjarapu said the company is now gradually expanding its new member areas into urgent care clinics, anesthesiologists, pediatricians, dermatologists, etc. besides pharmacies.

MEDS stock has declined 20% in the past year. The stock’s 12-month average price target stands at $12.50, representing a 140% upside from Wednesday’s close.  

_______