Arcadier will provide an online marketplace for the United Nations Office for Project Services’ (UNOPS) Defeat-NCD Partnership

Online marketplace builder from Singapore Arcadier has entered into an agreement with United Nations Office for Project Services’ (UNOPS) Defeat Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Partnership. Arcadier will help UNOPS to ensure accessibility and affordability of medicines, diagnostics, and equipment, with better supply chain processes, and transparency.

The online marketplace that has created marketplaces in more than 130 countries aims to enable the cost-effective and efficient provision of essential NCD supplies to national NCD programmes in low-resource countries. The online marketplace is set to launch by end of first quarter next year,

The Defeat-NCD Partnership is a Private-Public-People Partnership which was established in January 2018 to tackle NCDs, a disease that has killed more than 41 million people each year, equivalent to 71% of all deaths globally.

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The marketplace consists of pre-approved buyers, including government agencies and non-governmental groups, who will be able to source for NCD supplies such as medicines, diagnostics, and equipment, from manufacturers to serve in 100 resource-poor countries over the next three to five years.

With that kind of access, it is expected for countries to pool their buying power and demand together so there will be lower prices from greater efficiencies in planning, manufacturing, and the supply chain aspects.

“An online marketplace can improve trust and connectivity, thereby increasing transparency and access to important and life-saving supplies. We believe that our expertise helping businesses build marketplaces can help effect serious change and impact people and communities,” said Dinuke Ranasinghe, Chief Executive Officer of Arcadier.

Arcadier aims to deploy the marketplace in At launch, a pilot with six countries representing Southeast Asia, Africa, Central Europe and the Americas, will be able to purchase pre-approved supplies and undergo training from Arcadier on the use of the system.

In this partnership project, Arcadier’s role will include providing training and support to buyers across the world in the use of the marketplace, as well as engagement on aspects such as financing solutions, logistics, drug testing, and warehousing, to create benefits of scale for users. To ensure the operation is running smoothly, Singapore Government agency, Enterprise Singapore has made sure it supports Arcadier in connecting with private sector partners (in pharmaceutical, financing and supply chain industries) to achieve the long-term goals of this partnership.

“The UN is constantly seeking new technology to solve major world issues. Partnering with Arcadier to create the Defeat-NCD Marketplace will reduce barriers and costs in the distribution of quality-assured NCD medicines, diagnostics, and associated equipment to where they are needed most, speedily and reliably,”said Dr Mukesh Kapila, Chief Executive of the Defeat-NCD Partnership.

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Arcadier will be looking to increase their global staff size by at least 100 in 2019, with people in logistics, warehousing, customer service, training, and development, from 45 people currently. They will also be looking to open new offices in Europe focused on managing the project directly with the UN, and in East Africa to aid in the operational aspects of the project, on top of their current offices in Singapore, United States, Australia and the Philippines.

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Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

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