Qestmed (Pty) Ltd

What Qestmed (Pty) Ltd does

Qestmed (Pty) Ltd is a privately held South African healthcare distribution company founded in 1989, headquartered in Johannesburg with regional branches in Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth. The company operates six interconnected service divisions: Full-line Pharmaceutical Wholesaling, Primary Pharmaceutical Distribution (to manufacturers and suppliers), Primary Surgical Distribution (medical devices and consumables), Hospital Division, Oncology Division (chemotherapy mixing and direct-to-patient pharmacy), and the iQEST IT sub-brand. Qestmed supplies branded and generic pharmaceuticals, surgical consumables, and specialized oncology services to all three major South African private hospital groups, independent private hospitals, the public healthcare sector, and individual oncology and chronic-disease patients nationally.

The company holds regulatory licences from SAPHRA (pharmaceutical and medical device wholesaler/distributor) and SAPC (specialized oncology and retail pharmacy) and carries Level 1 BEE Compliance status. Its technology backbone is the proprietary iQEST platform, which maintains an electronic Price File of approximately 63,000 line items with daily updated pricing and NAPPI codes, an on-line ordering system for hospitals, and batch/serial-number tracking with automated order receipting, invoicing, and despatch. Full cold-chain logistics operate across all four licensed sites via a validated, temperature-controlled in-house fleet, enabling same-day service in major centres and next-day delivery nationally.

Qestmed monetizes through transaction-based pharmaceutical and surgical distribution (fee per unit moved), managed-services primary distribution for manufacturers (warehousing, quarantine, batch sampling, reporting), transaction-fee direct-to-patient oncology pharmacy with free home delivery, and recurring subscription access to the iQEST price-file and inventory-management platform for independent hospitals. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales (in-house customer-services consultants engaging major hospital groups and independents) with a direct-to-consumer oncology and chronic-medication channel. The company operates with approximately 73 employees and reports no disclosed external investors, parent entity, or funding events.

Name

Qestmed (Pty) Ltd

Legal name

Qestmed (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://qestmed.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

South African pharmaceutical and medical device distributor operating six divisions from four licensed sites, serving private hospital groups, public healthcare, and oncology patients nationally through proprietary iQEST pricing and ordering platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Distribution

NAICS

Drugs and Druggists' Sundries Merchant Wholesalers (42421), Medical, Dental, and Hospital Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (42345)

SIC

Wholesale-Drugs, Proprietaries & Druggists' Sundries (5122), Wholesale-Medical, Dental & Hospital Equipment & Supplies (5047)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Pharmacy & Biologics Distribution (CRAOAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Medication Inventory, Procurement & Supply Chain (Pharmacy) (HLACAKAI), Pharmaceutical & Biologics Courier (Rx, Specialty Drugs) (TLAAAIAB), Medical Devices & Diagnostics (TLAIALAD)

Keywords

• Pharmaceutical distribution
• Medical device distribution
• Surgical consumables supply
• Oncology pharmacy services
• Healthcare logistics services

Headquarters

HQ city

Johannesburg (Fourways, Sandton)

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Pharmaceutical Wholesaling: Full-line pharmaceutical wholesaling services to public and private healthcare nationally, handling branded and generic pharmaceuticals
2. Surgical Consumables Distribution: Distribution of surgical consumables as primary surgical distributor, one of the largest in the country with 3 decades of experience
3. Primary Distribution Services: Warehousing and distribution services to manufacturers and suppliers including quarantine of new stock, batch sampling, release process and recording
4. Oncology Pharmacy Services: Retail pharmacy services with chemotherapy mixing in clean room environment, dispensing oncology and chronic medication directly to patients with free home delivery
5. IT and Inventory Management Services: iQEST division providing electronic price files, on-line ordering systems and inventory management solutions to independent hospitals with daily updated pricing database

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Qestmed is a fully integrated pharmaceutical and medical device wholesaler and distributor operating licensed logistics sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth. It supplies branded and generic pharmaceuticals, surgical consumables and medical devices to public and private hospitals nationally, runs an Oncology Division providing chemotherapy mixing and direct-to-patient chronic medication home delivery, and sells proprietary iQEST IT systems (electronic price files, online ordering, inventory management) to independent hospitals.

Product overview

Qestmed is a South African healthcare distribution company offering an integrated portfolio of six interconnected service divisions. The core offerings include Full-line Pharmaceutical Wholesaling with licensed sites across Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth; Primary Pharmaceutical Distribution providing warehousing, batch tracking, and daily reporting to manufacturers; and Primary Surgical Distribution for medical devices. These are complemented by specialized divisions: Hospital Division serving private hospital groups with bulk purchasing and stock management support, and Oncology Division providing chemotherapy mixing in clean rooms with home delivery of chronic medications. The iQEST sub-brand provides the technological backbone through electronic price files, online ordering, and inventory management systems, with a Price File database of approximately 63,000 line items. All divisions share validated cold-chain capabilities, SAPHRA/SAPC licensing, and Level 1 BEE compliance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• iQEST: The Group's IT venture focused on electronic price files, on-line ordering systems and inventory management within the hospital environment. Supplies independent hospitals with an industry Price File containing daily updated pricing and nappi codes of some 63,000-line items.

Products and services

• Full-line Pharmaceutical Wholesaler

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Cipla Medpro South Africa: South African subsidiary of Cipla with manufacturing and distribution operations in pharmaceuticals, overlapping with Qestmed in hospital and pharmacy supply channels.
• McKesson: Global pharmaceutical distribution giant providing comparable wholesale, primary distribution, and specialty pharmacy services; relevant as a benchmark for operational scale and technology-enabled distribution models.
• Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen): Global pharmaceutical distributor with specialty distribution and consulting services to manufacturers and providers, comparable to Qestmed's primary distribution franchise and oncology/specialty pharmacy operations.
• Pharma Dynamics: Leading South African generic pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor, comparable to Qestmed in branded/generic pharma distribution to public and private healthcare.
• Aspen Pharmacare: Africa's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer with significant distribution operations, comparable to Qestmed as a vertically integrated pharma player serving South African public and private healthcare channels.
• Adcock Ingram: Major South African healthcare company with manufacturing and distribution operations, overlapping with Qestmed's pharmaceutical wholesale and primary distribution activities across the same hospital and retail customers.

Regional players

• Dis-Chem Pharmacies: Major South African retail pharmacy chain with distribution capabilities; while primarily retail rather than wholesale, it overlaps with Qestmed's oncology and chronic medication dispensing and shares the same end-patient market.

Direct peers

• Equity Pharmaceuticals: South African pharmaceutical wholesaler offering full-line distribution services to pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics, directly comparable in business model and customer base to Qestmed.
• Imperial Health Sciences: One of South Africa's largest pharmaceutical and healthcare distributors, directly competing with Qestmed in full-line pharmaceutical wholesaling and primary distribution services to public and private healthcare customers.
• DSV Healthcare (formerly UTi Pharma): Global logistics provider with a dedicated South African healthcare and pharmaceutical distribution unit, competing head-to-head with Qestmed in licensed pharma and medical device distribution including cold-chain capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Qestmed
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/qestmed-pty-ltd

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Qestmed (Pty) Ltd