AC Health

WHO WE ARE
AC Health is the portfolio company of the Ayala group for its healthcare investments. It aims to address the unmet need for accessible, affordable and quality healthcare for all Filipinos by building, investing, and connecting various businesses into an integrated and seamless ecosystem of services across the continuum of care.

The company’s retail health portfolio includes Generika Drugstore, the pioneer in the retail sale of generic medicines, and FamilyDOC, the country’s largest chain of retail primary care clinics. In 2019, AC Health added Healthway Medical, which operates a network of mall-based multispecialty clinics and corporate clinics, to its portfolio. On the pharma space, AC Health invested in IE Medica, one of the leading pharma importers in the country, and MedEthix, its affiliated distribution company.

AC Health also continues to build and invest in health technology solutions through its own technology arm, Vigos Health Technologies. Launched in 2018, Vigos’ portfolio of in-house solutions includes an electronic medical record system called Vigos EMR, which is used across all FamilyDOC clinics, and a corporate health mobile solutions platform, Vigos Care. Vigos Care is used by employees alongside the corporate clinics, FamilyDOC@Work, which was launched within the Ayala group in 2019. Vigos also invests in high potential health technology partners such as MedGrocer, an FDA-licensed corporate medicine benefits management, and AIDE, a digital home health platform. In 2019, Vigos also invested into Fibronostics, a global US-based healthcare technology company focused on non-invasive algorithm-based solutions for diagnostic testing.

Overall, AC Health’s vision of building an integrated network of healthcare services has become its competitive advantage. This includes its strong retail health footprint that enables it to provide last-mile access to consumers. It also harnesses the value of innovative products, services, and business models, including various health technology solutions, to address the needs of its patients and customers. Finally, it is also anchored on building strong and strategic partnerships with those who share the same vision of delivering quality, affordable, accessible care for all Filipinos. This includes finding synergies with the broader Ayala group and working in close collaboration with various sectors of the healthcare industry, including private sector companies, government, other local health authorities, and the academe.

MARKET OUTLOOK
Locally, the year 2019 continued to be an eventful period for the Philippine healthcare industry, as the Implementing Rules and Regulations for newly enacted healthcare bills were released. These include the IRR for the National Integrated Cancer Control Act and the IRR for the Universal Health Care Act, both of which provide further guidance on increasing cancer care and primary care coverage for all Filipinos, respectively.

By December 2019, however, news of the first case of COVID-19 in Wuhan, Hubei, China broke out, disrupting the healthcare industry globally. At that time, little had been known about this pneumonia-causing virus. It was later learned to be a new strain of the Coronavirus family, where infection was originally via animal transmission and eventually became transmissible by respiratory droplets among humans. By March 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 cases had been declared a global pandemic with a growing number of countries with local transmission, including the Philippines. On March 12, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte raised the country’s Code Alert System to Code Red Sublevel 2 and declared Metro Manila under community quarantine in an effort to control the situation.

In response to the disease outbreak, the general public’s demand for more preventive medicines and supplies has increased. However, visits to clinics decreased due to compliance with social distancing measures and increased concern over being exposed to the virus. In addition, healthcare industry players must contend with supply chain issues brought about by an increase in demand and a shortage of medicines and supplies due to disruption in global supply chains. The outlook remains cautious and a general slowing in the overall growth of the industry, locally and globally, is anticipated as an impact of COVID-19 containment measures and supply and human resource issues. Importantly, it will be critical to ensure the safety and well-being of healthcare medical ‑professionals who are at the frontline of this pandemic. As cases are expected to increase in number and with the situation persisting through the first half of 2020, AC Health is committed to ensuring its clinics and drugstores continue to operate and provide much needed healthcare services to Filipinos.

BUSINESS REVIEW
AC Health continues to establish its presence as a key player in the Philippine healthcare industry, with its continued expansion and growth in the pharma, clinics, and health technology spaces, alongside planned investments into hospitals and specialty care. It has also differentiated itself in the industry with its advocacy of improving healthcare for all through its ecosystem.

In the pharma space, AC Health increased its equity stake in Generika at 52.5 percent. Generika ended the year with a total of 804 drugstores nationwide. Moreover, AC Health invested in one of the leading importers of medicines in the country, IE Medica, as well as its affiliated distribution company, MedEthix. With this investment, the AC Health looks forward to integrating its pharmaceutical portfolio and strengthening its supply chain for its growing network of drugstores and primary and multi-specialty care facilities.

On clinics, AC Health has grown to be the biggest network of clinics in the country, offering primary care, multi-specialty care, and corporate health services through FamilyDOC and Healthway, which it acquired in January 2020. In 2019, FamilyDOC opened 20 new clinics, including its biggest branch in Sampaloc, Manila, to end the year with 74 clinics in total all over the Greater Manila Area. It has also served more than 490,000 unique patients since its first clinic opened in late 2015. Meanwhile, Healthway Philippines, one of the most trusted clinic brands in the country, has seven mall-based multi-specialty clinics and 40 corporate clinics.

On hospitals, AC Health continues to look for opportunities in general hospitals to complete the continuum of care from its retail health network to more specialized tertiary care. It also continues to explore innovative specialty care formats, starting with oncology. AC health announced its plans to build the first dedicated cancer specialty hospital in the country. The stand-alone facility, to be built with an investment of approximately ₱2 billion, is envisioned to be a fully integrated, 100-bed hospital located within Metro Manila. Its goal is to provide comprehensive high-quality cancer care services, but at more affordable prices.

On the health technology space, AC Health believes in investing in health technology solutions that enable synergies across its portfolio. In 2019, it launched FamilyDOC@Work within the Ayala group, relaunched the AIDE app with new features, and invested into Fibronostics, an algorithm-based diagnostics company.

In 2020, AC Health’s priority is to remain responsive to local healthcare needs in light of COVID-19 by extending frontline care through its Generika drugstores, Healthway and FamilyDOC clinics, and our online platforms. In the pharma space, AC Health’s priority is to ensure a continuous supply of medicines and personal protective equipment to fulfill the needs of its medical professionals and customers. This year, priorities for the clinic network will also be on maintaining operations for non-COVID-19 patients, and for triaging of suspected cases, while also focusing on integration of patient referrals and back-end operations. On health technology, the focus will be on continuing to promote telemedicine as an alternative access point for healthcare services, and creating an integrated digital health platform connecting online services and physical stores. Overall, AC Health continues to be driven by its vision of providing affordable, accessible, quality healthcare, which, amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has become increasingly relevant to Filipinos.