Zak Mir Speaks to MedPal AI CEO Jason Drummond

Zak Mir talks to Jason Drummond, CEO of Medpal (AIM: MPAL), as the AI-native digital health and pharmacy group provided a trading update for July 2026, the first month in which the Group's three revenue streams (NHS prescriptions, private prescriptions and SaaS software subscriptions) have all been in operation.

Medpal has moved from zero dispensing revenue in October 2025 to an annualised run rate of approximately £8.6 million, based on July 2026 performance. That growth has been achieved in just nine months, with all three revenue streams now operating together: NHS prescriptions, private prescriptions and SaaS software subscriptions.

The opportunity is substantial, but the strategy is not simply about selling weight-loss medication. It is about building the underlying health operating system that connects prescribing, automated dispensing, delivery, medicine administration and AI-led patient support.

From Zero to £8.6 Million Run Rate

Our dispensing operations began from a standing start in October 2025. By 1 June 2026, the annualised revenue run rate had passed £5 million. By July, it had reached around £8.6 million across NHS and private dispensing.

That momentum is particularly encouraging because the business has been built with minimal marketing expenditure. Until recently, investment was directed primarily towards the infrastructure needed to operate safely and at scale.

Prescription dispensing is not a simple e-commerce exercise. Prescribing, dispensing and fulfilment have to be done properly, with robust processes, appropriate technology and serious operational capacity behind them.

Investing Early in Scalable Pharmacy Infrastructure

Medpal has invested heavily in two large warehouse facilities designed to process more than 300,000 prescription orders per month. The operations are supported by robotic dispensing technology, providing 24-hour capacity and 99.9% dispensing accuracy.

The key advantage of automation is operating leverage. Once the dispensing infrastructure is in place, volumes can rise without costs increasing at the same rate. That creates the potential for substantial growth from the existing platform rather than requiring a matching expansion in overhead for every new prescription.

In July, the business processed nearly 50,000 NHS orders. At the same time, private patients are now coming through the New Health service at new.co.uk.

The heavy lifting on facilities, automation and technology has largely been completed. The focus can now move towards filling that capacity, growing the patient base and building recurring revenue.

Why Medpal’s Revenue Can Compound

One of the most important features of the model is that revenue is designed to repeat. This is not a business that starts each month from zero.

Each month begins with the previous month’s revenue base already in place. New patients, prescriptions and subscriptions then build on top of that foundation. This is why growth can become increasingly meaningful as the platform scales.

The July 2026 trading update marked the first month in which all three revenue streams were operational together. That matters because NHS dispensing, private dispensing and software subscriptions each contribute to a broader and more resilient commercial model.

Building a Health Operating System, Not Just a Pharmacy

Acquisitions may play a role in the future, but the core strategy has always been to build an integrated health operating system.

The aim is to connect every important stage of the medication journey through a single platform:

That fully connected platform did not already exist as something that could simply be bought. It had to be assembled and built.

Previous smaller acquisitions have therefore been strategic assembly acquisitions. They supplied elements needed for the wider platform, including robotic dispensing capabilities. The objective was not acquisition for its own sake. It was to create the infrastructure required to operate a genuinely integrated digital health and pharmacy business.

There may be opportunities to acquire additional assets in future, but the immediate priority is to use the platform already built, invest in marketing and grow a significant operating business.

GLP-1 Medication Is a Major Private Healthcare Opportunity

The launch of New Health at new.co.uk brings Medpal into the rapidly growing GLP-1 market, including medicines such as Wegovy and Mounjaro.

The UK market is already significant. An estimated 2 million people are using GLP-1 medicines in the UK, generating around £300 million of revenue per month. This places Medpal in a large market at a time of accelerating demand.

Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Mounjaro from Lilly have become some of the fastest-growing prescription medicines ever seen. In the United States, they have been among the fastest-growing prescription drugs in the history of the market. The arrival of the Wegovy pill further underlines how quickly this category is evolving.

New Health was launched only weeks before the July update, and marketing had only just begun. The early revenue ramp therefore reflects the strength of the market opportunity as well as Medpal’s existing operational readiness.

Marketing Will Help New Health Stand Out

Searching for GLP-1 medication online presents patients with a crowded field of providers. Differentiation, customer acquisition, pricing and patient retention all matter in a market with many visible competitors.

Medpal has recruited Erin Fox as Head of Marketing to lead this next stage. Erin previously worked at Avolta, the world’s largest duty-free business, which generates around £14 billion in annual turnover. Her experience includes running more than 200 e-commerce sites.

A dedicated central London marketing team is now focused on customer acquisition through paid social media and paid search. This is an important change for a business that reached its current run rate with limited marketing investment.

The strategy is straightforward: combine an established automated pharmacy infrastructure with focused digital marketing in a fast-growing healthcare market. The goal is not merely to attract one-off orders, but to build recurring patient relationships that contribute month after month.

A Platform Ready for the Next Stage of Growth

Medpal now has three operating revenue streams, automated dispensing capacity, a growing NHS order base, a private GLP-1 health clinic, SaaS subscriptions and an AI-native health platform under development.

The business has already demonstrated that it can grow rapidly from a standing start. With robotic facilities capable of processing significantly higher prescription volumes and recurring revenues forming the base for each new month, the focus is now on aggressive organic expansion.

The opportunity is to turn that operational foundation into a scalable digital health and pharmacy business, serving patients across NHS, private and care settings through one connected platform.