A newcomer to the tech scene in the Queen City certainly is off to a fast start.

VeriMed, which just recently launched, has developed proprietary technology it says ensures a “safe supply chain” for controlled substances in seeking to make prescriptions and dispensing of those drugs safer.

On Wednesday, VeriMed (which does not yet have a website, according to a spokesperson) disclosed that it had raised $3 million in venture funding from Fortis Capital Holdings.

The company was founded by Philip Gaucher, a serial entrepreneur who lives in New York but frequently travels to Charlotte. Gaucher most recently co-founded Shale-Inland, an industrial group that generates some $750 million a year in revenue.

“The abuse and diversion of opioid pain relievers now cause more deaths per year than automobile accidents, and costs the government and insurance providers billions of dollars. VeriMed’s technology will help to greatly reduce both abuse and diversion while still allowing patients who are truly in need of these medications the ability to receive them,” said Gaucher, who is also chief executive officer for VeriMed. “Physicians and pharmacists who prescribe and dispense these medications face serious liability if the medication ends up in the wrong hands. It is our goal to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

The funding will be used to commercialize VeriMed’s technology.

Its offerings include:

  • VeriPak – “A blister pack for dispensing medication which records the date and time each pill is removed, so prescribing physicians can verify that patients are using the medication as directed.”
  • VeriMed Surveillance Pharmacy - ”A mail-shipment pharmacy which utilizes data to help mitigate the delivery of controlled substances to patients who have the potential to abuse or divert their medication.”

VeriMed’s system also includes a risk assessment test that is taken in a physician’s office. It is intended to “identify the propensity for abuse, deception, and/or diversion.” 

A physician can chose to have the prescription filled at a pharmacy using the Surveillance Pharmacy technology that includes a VeriMed Information Portal where analytics are used to help identify patients who may be at risk. If so, the drugs are sent via the VeriPak.