Mingpao.com, the Internet arm of the SAR-listed newspaper, has formed a medical Web site joint venture with Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital (HKSH).
The partners aim to develop the site, which offers health-related information, into an on-line drug store.
Mingpao.com chief executive Francis Tiong said: 'We are actively consulting with a number of pharmaceutical companies.
'We aim to set up a huge on-line drug store.' The site, mingpaohealth .com, is 70 per cent owned by Mingpao.com and 30 per cent by HKSH.
Medical professionals said the site could raise regulatory questions if it used on-line diagnosis to sell drugs requiring a prescription.
Hong Kong Medical Association vice-president Lo Wing-lok said a doctor using the Internet to prescribe drugs would have to justify it as being in the best interests of patients.
