Bergen Brunswig Joins Online Sales Venture
BuyMedical.com, an Aliso Viejo start-up that is launching an online medical-supply mart for hospitals and other health care facilities, has signed up a Bergen Brunswig Corp. unit as its first supplier.
Under the five-year agreement announced Monday, BuyMedical.com’s site would serve as a one-stop fulfillment station for buyers of Bergen Brunswig medical and surgical supplies.
The deal marks the latest attempt by Orange-based drug wholesaler Bergen Brunswig and its subsidiaries to modernize through e-commerce. The company also has linked up with several dot-coms to sell prescription drugs online and has launched a site to auction off surplus perishables such as blood, plasma or vaccines.
The BuyMedical.com arrangement is part of an overall Internet strategy aimed at finding new revenue sources and building on Bergen’s brand and customer relationships, a company spokeswoman said.
Bergen could use a boost.
The company’s shares have plummeted 80% in the last year as performance lagged at two companies that Bergen acquired--specialty-drug distributor Stadtlander and nursing-home-pharmacy operator PharMerica. Bergen’s credit rating has been downgraded repeatedly.
Bergen Brunswig’s stock fell 6 cents on Monday, closing at $4.63 a share on the New York Stock Exchange.
The concept behind BuyMedical.com is to allow medical-supply distributors--starting with Bergen Brunswig--and their existing customers to handle buying entirely online, saving time and eliminating errors.
The business-to-business Internet marketplace also could provide information about Bergen Brunswig products to potential clients previously dependent on old-fashioned in-person and catalog sales.
“This will enhance and streamline the process,” said Carl Natenstedt, president of BuyMedical.com.
BuyMedical.com generates revenue by adding a markup to each product sold through its Web marketplace, Natenstedt said.
BuyMedical.com is among the first crop of start-ups to emerge from Buy.com founder Scott Blum’s incubator, ThinkTank LLC. ThinkTank provided BuyMedical.com with $2 million in seed capital. BuyMedical.com’s site officially opens for business March 31.
