Today we’d like to introduce you to Obiechina Ezekwesili and Darlene Fatunbi.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Obiechina and Darlene. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I knew I was going to be an entrepreneur from the by elementary school. By the time I was a teenager, I was flipping dogs on craigslist. I would find free puppies, bring them home, and nurture them, then relocate them to willing families for a small rehoming fee. As a young man, my mom would always tell me, “you’re going to be great in life,” and I believed her. I knew entrepreneurship was my heart’s desire, however, I also knew that an education was a vital requirement in order to ensure my success as an entrepreneur. By college I was juggling between pursuing a career as an anesthesiologist, or one as a pharmacist. I weighed my options between the two.
As an anesthesiologist, I would be very well paid, but odds were that I wouldn’t have much opportunity to pursue my entrepreneurial endeavors as I would as a pharmacist. I ultimately chose pharmacy over anesthesiology, due to the fact that pharmacy was more in line with my personality. I love to talk; interacting with my patients every day is something that makes me happy. As an anesthesiologist, my patients would be asleep during most of our encounters, so I chose pharmacy. Not only that, as a pharmacist, I have the ability to combine my passion and education, to create something that would change the world. After graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio, with my bachelor’s in public health, with a concentration in epidemiology, I began my journey to become a pharmacist at the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy. Now, 15 weeks away from graduation, my fiancé, Darlene, and I own and operate our own pharmacy, Velox Pharmacy Solutions, an online full-service pharmacy that serves the underserved. We officially opened our doors on Nov 7, 2019.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Getting the state to license your pharmacy, while you’re still a student will raise some eyebrows. Many people questioned our competence and my boldness, however, we have a great team, and a great Pharmacist In Charge, who has been with us since inception. The state honestly had no option but to license us. My fiancé and co-founder, Darlene, and I had already prayed it into existence.
It also raises questions when you’re a cash only pharmacy. As you know, there’s a major opioid epidemic, and not to go too deep into that, but as a cash only pharmacy, it isn’t hard to have the DEA breathing down your neck to ensure you’re not running an illegal drug operation. As a result, at Velox, we don’t fill any C2 substances. We’re licensed by the DEA to fill class 3-5 when it comes to controlled substances. This way, we avoid any issues with the DEA.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Velox Pharmacy Solutions – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
At our pharmacy we don’t bill insurance, rather, we charge patients the wholesale cost of their drug, plus a small filling fee. What a lot of people don’t understand is, if you or anyone you know is taking generic prescription medications, odds are they’re overpaying on their copays. For example, one of our newer patients has a son who is on atomoxetine, generic Strattera. Her usual copay prior to transferring to our pharmacy is $84 dollars at CVS. If she didn’t have insurance, cash price of a 30 supply of this medication would be $311 and with a GoodRx coupon, $119.95. Our patient was under the impression that she was getting a good deal, and that if her copay was $84, then surely, her insurance was covering a bigger portion. Turns out, her insurance wasn’t covering a bigger portion, but rather, she was paying twice the amount she would pay at our pharmacy.
You see, the unregulated nature of the pharmaceutical industry allows situations like this to occur, and the lack of transparency keeps patients in the dark and unaware of how much they’re really paying. At our pharmacy, our new patient ended up paying $47 for a 30 day supply of her son’s medication, saving her almost $500 a year on that one medication alone. This is why I started Velox Pharmacy Solutions, to help patients attain the same quality healthcare, at more affordable prices. The difference between my pharmacy and other pharmacies out there is that we provide you both savings and convenience. Once we get your prescription from your physician’s office, we fill it and ship it out to you for significantly less than you’d pay at a traditional pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens; also shipping is free. We’re currently only licensed in West Virginia, but are working on expanding and getting licensed in more states. Our goal is to be licensed in all 50 states by the end of 2021. We’re also currently raising a seed round investment, so if you’re reading this, and you know an angel investor, send them our way.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our hope for Velox is to get us licensed in all 50 states by the end of 2021. It is our hope and desire that we can successfully raise a seed round of investments in order to scale the company. There are millions of people nationwide who struggle to afford their medications, and we have the solution they’re searching for. Darlene and I believe that we can make a difference.
Pricing:
- Metformin: $0.016/pill
- Lisinopril: $0.024/pill
Contact Info:
- Address: 1027 Quarrier St
- Website: www.veloxrx.com
- Phone: 3043469000
- Email: pharmacy@veloxrx.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeloxRx/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/VeloxRx
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