A woman who’s been called ‘Doogie Howser’ is building the pharmacy of the future, and it's like Uber for drugs

Going to a pharmacy isn't the most fun experience. You sometimes wait in line only to find out a pill your doctor prescribed you isn't ready for pick-up yet, costs a fortune, or isn't in stock.

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Sonia Patel, a former pharmacy manager for Sam's Club and Eric Kinariwala, a former Bain Capital analyst, want to reimagine the experience.

On Tuesday morning, the pair launched Capsule, a startup that wants you to never visit a physical pharmacy, like Walgreens or CVS, again.

Eric and Sonia Patel Capsule
Eric Kinariwala and Sonia Patel cofounded Capsule, a pharmacy you never have to visit that will deliver medication to your door on demand. Capsule Pharmacy

Instead, Capsule will deliver your pills to your home or office for you, kind of like hailing an Uber. Here's how it works.

  • When your doctor asks which pharmacy you use, simply say "Capsule" instead of "CVS" or whichever other local pharmacy you visit.
  • Unlike CVS, which has multiple locations and sells lots of things, Capsule only has one store per city, which you can choose to visit or not.
  • Inside the Capsule's store, which it calls the hub, there are full-time pharmacists who fulfill orders and full-time couriers who deliver to your preferred address. Currently, Capsule only has a hub in New York City, on west 25th Street, but it delivers to all of New York City with the exception of Staten Island. Other cities will be launching soon.
  • On Capsule's app, your insurance information automatically populates, or you can snap a photo of your insurance card if for some reason your information doesn't pop up.
  • You can read information about your prescription — including how much it costs and how many doses to take — on the app. Then you can put the pills in your shopping cart and choose a delivery date, time, and address.  
  • If you have any questions, you can chat with a pharmacist on the app 24/7. Otherwise, your medicine will show up on your doorstep when you want it, within a two-hour window.
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Capsule has been quietly working in stealth mode since last September, when Patel and Kinariwala formed the company and moved into the location on West 25th street.

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The pharmacy you never have to visit (but you can if you want)

capsule pharmacy
Alyson Shontell/Busienss Insider

Currently, the Capsule office looks pretty unassuming from the outside. This picture shows how it looked last week when we went to visit the founders.

But once you're inside, it looks like an ordinary pharmacy: Clean and organized, with pharmacists on staff and pills dangling from the walls.

Here's the inside of the Capsule hub.

Capsule Pharmacy office
Capsule Pharmacy
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Meet the "Doogie Howser" of drugs.

Sonia Patel Capsule
Capsule Pharmacy

The pharmacy is run by Sonia Patel, who comes from a family of pharmacists. Her cofounder calls her "Doogie Howser," because she got her doctorate in pharmacy at a very young age. Most pharmacists need about eight years of school to get their degree; four in undergrad and four additional.

Patel did it in six, with just two years of undergrad. She completed the whole program by the time she was 23 from the University of Austin.

Patel and Kinariwala first met in 2005, but it wasn't until 10 years later that they'd start Capsule together. Kinariwala, who was formerly a tech investor, had a terrible experience at his local pharmacy and wondered why there wasn't a better process for getting medication, or a way to get pill deliveries from his smart phone.

Patel had been working with pharmacies for Sam's Club. So the two got together, raised a round of financing from venture capital firm Thrive Capital, and reimagined the pharmacy experience from scratch.

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How to schedule your medicine for delivery on Capsule's app

Capsule Pharmacy office
Capsule Pharmacy

Capsule's app requires a quick signup process and it locates the medicines that have been prescribed to you by a doctor. In the future, Capsule may also offer its customers over-the-counter products, but for now it only offers delivery for medication a doctor signs off on.

Once you're on the app, you can look up information about the medicine you've been prescribed and submit an order for delivery. Just plug in your address, choose a two-hour time window for dropoff, and your payment method.

Then you just sit back and wait for Capsule's full-time couriers (note, these are not contract workers) to bring you your pills.

Capsule's pharmacists are available 24/7, so you can ask questions about your medication if you want.

Patel vets all the pharmacists, who apply to Capsule the same way they'd apply to work for a CVS or Walgreens. 

Capsule is a full-fledged pharmacy, licensed by the New York Board of Pharmacy with approval from the DEA, and it has contracts with all major insurance agencies. 

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capsule pharmacy
Capsule Pharmacy

Capsule also reimagined what pill bottles and labels should look like. There's bigger text and more clear instructions on each bottle with dosage information that's easy to grasp, sealed in a nice brown bag with tamper-proof tape.

Here's what a delivery looks like:

Capsule Pharmacy Medicine Delivery
Capsule Pharmacy
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So, why can't CVS just hire couriers and kill Capsule?

Capsule Pharmacy office
Capsule Pharmacy

Capsule's mission is to make everything about visiting a pharmacy easier, starting with the fact that you shouldn't have to visit a physical store in the first place.

Of course, CVS or Walgreens could just hire their own couriers and put the startup out of business.

But Kinariwala says he isn't worried about that happening, because there are more pains with today's pharmacies than just picking up medicine.

"The business isn’t just about delivery. It’s one component of the business," Kinariwala told Tech Insider.

"It’s about a better, smarter, kinder, gentler pharmacy. Hiring couriers doesn’t make your medication in stock, or give you price transparency, or let you interact digitally the way you do with everything else in your life. And it doesn’t give you the peace of mind and comfort [we aim to offer.]"

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