Transforming Market Data Collection with AWS Serverless

Background

A stealth-mode startup is revolutionizing the non-insured prescription drug market. Their goal is to lower consumer costs while increasing pharmacy revenues impacted by PBMs and discount cards.

Challenge

The startup faced uncertainty regarding the technological feasibility of aggregating real-time drug prices from multiple public sources.

Objective

The primary goal was to validate the concept by building a proof of concept for market data collection. This would enable objective evaluation and support fundraising efforts.

Proposed AWS Solutions

To achieve a scalable and efficient solution, AWS serverless technologies were leveraged, including:

• AWS Lambda
• Amazon SQS
• AWS Step Functions
• Amazon Athena

Implementation

The project began with a proof of concept for collecting drug price data. It was then expanded into a full-scale system using AWS serverless infrastructure to handle large volumes of data.

Understanding Data Partitioning

Data partitioning involves determining whether data should be siloed or pooled. A siloed model stores each tenant’s data separately, while a pooled model partitions data based on tenant identifiers.

Data Partitioning with AWS

Amazon DynamoDB supports both models:

• Siloed Model: Separate tables for each tenant.
• Pooled Model: A shared table using tenant identifiers in partition keys.

Different AWS services introduce unique constructs that affect partitioning strategies, requiring careful architectural decisions.

Outcomes

• The successful proof of concept secured substantial Series A funding.
• A scalable system was built to collect, normalize, and aggregate data into a unified prescription drug price feed.

Summary

West Loop Strategy’s AWS expertise enabled the startup to validate and launch an innovative market data collection solution. This approach addressed key challenges in healthcare and pharmacy pricing.

Startups and enterprises can explore similar AWS-driven innovations with West Loop Strategy.