MedPal AI buys eMARx to build an integrated care home medicines platform

What has MedPal AI announced?

MedPal AI has acquired Solid State Technologies, which trades as eMARx, a provider of electronic medication administration record software to UK care homes and pharmacies.

An electronic medication administration record, shortened to eMAR, replaces paper medication charts with a live digital record. The eMARx system schedules each dose, uses barcode verification and records when medicines are administered, creating an auditable trail in real time.

MedPal describes eMARx as the missing component in its proposed "Health OS". That is the company's term for a single system connecting prescribing, dispensing, delivery, medication administration and AI-supported patient care.

This is a small acquisition financially, but potentially an important one strategically. Rather than simply adding another standalone business, MedPal is buying software that sits directly inside care homes and could become a route to selling more pharmacy services.

The key acquisition figures

Item	Detail
Initial consideration	Approximately £380,000
Initial cash payment	£133,066
Initial shares issued	7,272,834
Value of initial shares	Approximately £247,000
Expected completion adjustment	Approximately £94,000
Expected total consideration	Approximately £474,000
eMARx revenue for year to 31 March 2026	£739,231
Revenue growth	19%
eMARx profit after tax	£106,273
Gross margin	Approximately 82%
Net assets at 31 March 2026	£283,834
Employees joining MedPal	Six

The initial shares were valued using MedPal's closing mid-market share price of 3.4 pence on 17 July 2026.

The completion adjustment is expected to be settled 35% in cash and 65% through further shares issued at the same price. The exact final number of additional shares has not yet been disclosed.

Why does eMARx matter to MedPal?

MedPal already operates NHS distance-selling pharmacy hubs at Runcorn and Swaffham, supplies medicines to care homes, runs the New Health clinic and owns Juno, its agentic AI health companion.

eMARx adds the system used by care home staff at the point where medicines are actually given to residents. In theory, MedPal can now provide an end-to-end service covering the prescription, robotic dispensing, delivery and barcode-verified administration of medication.

The strategic argument is that these services should reinforce one another.

A care home using eMARx becomes a potential customer for MedPal's pharmacy supply operation. Equally, a care home supplied by MedPal becomes a potential user of eMARx. The company also intends to add Juno as an AI layer supporting alerts, reordering and communication with families.

MedPal says it could offer eMARx at a discount, or potentially at no separate cost, where a care home uses the group's pharmacy services exclusively. That could make its overall proposition more competitive while improving pharmacy revenue, customer acquisition and retention.

However, these benefits are expected rather than proven. MedPal has not disclosed revenue targets, cost savings, integration expenses or a timetable for converting eMARx customers into pharmacy customers.

A modest price for an established software business

The expected total consideration of approximately £474,000 compares with eMARx's latest annual revenue of £739,231 and profit after tax of £106,273.

That equates to roughly 0.6 times annual revenue and 4.5 times profit after tax. Those simple multiples make the headline purchase price look modest, particularly for a business generating mostly recurring monthly software subscription revenue and an approximately 82% gross margin.

There are caveats. The financial figures are unaudited, and profit after tax fell from £145,644 in the previous year to £106,273, despite revenue rising from £621,785 to £739,231. The reason for that decline was not disclosed.

Investors should therefore avoid assuming that the latest profit level will automatically grow or even remain stable. Still, eMARx is already profitable, so MedPal is not acquiring a pre-revenue technology project that requires an entirely new customer base.

The acquisition also includes relationships with national care groups, including Care UK, pharmacy groups and independent care homes. The number of customers, homes, beds and subscription retention rates was not disclosed.

The national roll-out opportunity

MedPal puts the wider UK opportunity at approximately 16,500 care homes, containing around 530,000 registered beds and close to half a million residents. It says the care home market was valued at approximately £27 billion in 2025/26.

Medication management is particularly important in this setting. According to figures included in the announcement, around 331,000 care home residents aged 65 and over receive NHS prescriptions each month. The average resident receives 6.8 medicines per month, while more than one in five receives ten or more.

The operational case for digitisation is straightforward: better records and barcode checks should help reduce missed doses and medication errors while improving oversight.

For MedPal, the commercial attraction is that its robotic dispensing hub at Sarus Court, Runcorn has substantial spare capacity. The facility uses BD Rowa technology and was designed for high-volume automated dispensing. If eMARx helps MedPal win more care home supply contracts, the group may be able to use that existing capacity more efficiently.

No utilisation figures or maximum dispensing volumes were disclosed, so investors cannot yet quantify the potential operating leverage.

What are the positives?

The clearest positive is the combination of profitable recurring software revenue with MedPal's existing pharmacy infrastructure.

Other encouraging features include:

• Revenue growth of 19% in eMARx's latest financial year.
• An approximately 82% gross margin.
• A purchase price that is low relative to the acquired revenue and profit.
• An immediate customer base extending beyond MedPal's existing Care UK relationship.
• Six employees joining the group, helping preserve product knowledge.
• Lock-up arrangements aligning the sellers with MedPal's longer-term performance.
• A potential cross-selling channel for pharmacy services into additional care homes.

All seven eMARx shareholders are becoming MedPal shareholders. The consideration shares are subject to a 12-month lock-up followed by 12 months of orderly market arrangements, limiting their immediate sale into the market.

What should investors watch?

The main risk is execution. Buying the software platform does not guarantee that care homes will switch their pharmacy provider or agree to exclusive supply arrangements.

Offering eMARx at a discount or at zero separate cost may support customer acquisition, but it could also sacrifice software revenue unless the resulting pharmacy economics are sufficiently attractive. MedPal has not disclosed the expected margins or payback period for this model.

Investors should also monitor:

• Whether eMARx can maintain its recent revenue growth.
• Why profit declined in the latest year.
• Evidence of new care home contract wins.
• Conversion of eMARx users into MedPal pharmacy customers.
• Integration costs and staff retention.
• The effect of new shares on existing shareholders.

The 7,272,834 initial consideration shares represent just under 1% of the enlarged 777,113,860 shares expected following admission. Further shares are also expected for the completion adjustment.

The investor takeaway

This appears to be a strategically coherent acquisition at a relatively modest price. eMARx adds profitable recurring software revenue, an established customer base and the digital connection between MedPal's dispensing operation and medication administration inside care homes.

The most interesting part is not the acquired £739,231 of annual revenue on its own. It is whether MedPal can use eMARx to fill spare dispensing capacity and win a meaningful share of a fragmented national care home market.

That opportunity is credible, but it remains unquantified. Future contract wins, customer conversions and evidence of profitable cross-selling will matter more than the broader Health OS language.