PlanetRx.com's prescription management agreement with Internet technology firm AHT Corporation will soon allow healthcare providers to write and transmit prescriptions electronically to the PlanetRx.com website, the online pharmacy announced in its third quarter earnings report.

Under the Nov. 4 agreement, PlanetRx.com will pay Tarrytown, N.Y.-based AHT a processing fee for each electronic prescription submitted for fulfillment to the PlanetRx.com website.

AHT also has an agreement with drugstore.com to help establish and promote industry standards for transmission of electronic prescriptions to online pharmacies.

Through a six-month test period beginning in early 2000, drugstore.com, AHT and other program participants will work through technical, regulatory and operational issues regarding electronic prescriptions, with feedback from the standards development organization National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, AHT said.

AHT's "@Rx" prescription management service screens for drug interactions and insurance formularies. Doctors can also print patient education materials about the prescribed medication from AHT's website.

PlanetRx.com's e-commerce revenue totaled $2.7 mil. in the third quarter, a jump of 349% from $595,000 in the second quarter, the company reported. Sponsorship revenue increased 157% over the same time period to $411,000.

Net revenue grew 308% from the $755,000 reported in June, reaching $3.1 mil for the quarter. The online venture reported a third quarter net loss of $26.7 mil, but pointed to "improved positive gross margins" of 16% as evidence that the online pharmacy is "on the right track."

The November earnings report is PlanetRx.com's first financial statement as a public company since its Oct. 7 initial public offering.

Approximately 115,000 new customers patronized the online pharmacy during the quarter, bringing the company's total customer count to 150,000.

The online pharmacy anticipates additional customer growth through its relationship with iVillage.com. Under the firms' September agreement, PlanetRx.com will pay an aggregate $22.5 mil. to be the exclusive online retailer of prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and vitamins for the online women's network. In addition, iVillage made a $7.5 mil. equity investment in PlanetRx.com, the pharmacy reported.

The pharmacy is heavily advertised on the iVillage website, and PlanetRx.com's health content pages are linked to iVillage portals.

PlanetRx.com is also the exclusive Internet retailer for pharmaceutical benefits manager Express Scripts' 36 mil. members (¹ Also see "Express Scripts Offers Access To Lives, Not Cash, For 20% Of PlanetRx.com" - Pink Sheet, 6 September, 1999.).

PlanetRx.com, in collaboration with an Internet pharmacy coalition including drugstore.com and CVS.com, will aid in the creation of "Operation Safe Net," a vehicle to enable report of fraudulent pharmacy sites on the Internet.

Operation Safe Net will "organize industry and consumer support and will allow patients to report rogue sites so they may be investigated and prosecuted as appropriate," the industry group agreed at a Nov. 10 Internet healthcare summit in Washington, D.C.

The summit was organized by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy as a result of PlanetRx.com CEO Bill Razzouk's call for an industry-wide gathering in testimony to the House Commerce/Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee (² Also see "PlanetRx.com Calls For On-Line Pharmacy Industry "Summit"" - Pink Sheet, 9 August, 1999.). NABP sponsors the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site "seal of approval."

The American Medical Association, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, National Consumers League, FDA, the Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of Attorneys General also participated the summit. Reps. Upton (R-Mich.) and Klink (D-Penn.) were also in attendance.

Summit participants also supported the establishment of a "Taskforce on Technology" to investigate violations of professional licensing statutes and consumer protection laws, as well as develop legislative and enforcement initiatives.

Internet pharmacies should collaborate with physician organizations to develop guidelines related to the appropriate prescriber/patient relationships in an online pharmacy environment, summit participants recommended.

PlanetRx.com To Receive Electronic Rx Transmissions Under AHT Contract

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