LOS ANGELES—There's been a flurry of recent activity in the direct-to-consumer space as drug costs and spending continue to rise.
It's with that backdrop that GoodRx announced Tuesday it would launch Employer Direct, a new program that allows employers to offer workers lower costs on branded products, which often carry the highest prices. Through the program, these firms can select branded drugs and subsidize the cost for the cash-pay price available through GoodRx.
Employers in the program can also tap into GoodRx's telemedicine solutions, which bring together the clinical care with the prescription fulfillment to ensure patients get the drugs they need.
Many firms are seeking greater transparency around net pharmaceutical pricing as well as a way to address key access gaps, Laura Jensen, chief commercial officer and president of pharma solutions at GoodRx, told Fierce Healthcare in an interview Tuesday at the ViVE Conference.
For instance, demand for GLP-1s hasn't waned even as coverage remains spotty, she said. The Employer Direct platform would offer a solution for employers struggling to manage the expectations of their workforces in obtaining these drugs given the cost.
"The idea here is, [there's] I think a real hunger for employers who are, frankly, not necessarily adding certain products to formulary, and there's really big access gaps," Jensen said.
The program, she said, is designed to work alongside the existing medical or pharmacy benefits on offer. GoodRx said the goal is to offer a way to provide access to high-cost therapies that may not have formulary placement without significant disruption to the existing benefits.
GoodRx launched the model with a focus on GLP-1s at the beginning of 2026 with its first employer partners, including the grocer Hy-Vee. Jensen said the ongoing debate over cost and coverage for GLP-1s is serving as a proof point for e-commerce in the pharmacy space.
Consumers are educated on what costs for these drugs are likely to be and have expectations set for what they could pay. And, when that information comes directly from the manufacturer or from a reputable source like GoodRx, they're comfortable shopping for themselves, she said.
"We're really seeing patients, I think, more informed than they have ever been, and they're also leveraging these opportunities, to shop online in this way," she said.
There is also significant frustration with the status quo in terms of traditional pharmacy benefits. Jensen said these older, entrenched models were built without foreseeing a future in which consumers would become comfortable shopping online for themselves.
The rise of platforms like GoodRx that can arm patients with knowledge gives them confidence to decide on a cash-pay price or choose another alternative to their coverage, she said.
"There's more agency on the patient side to be able to do what they need to do," she said.
Through the Employer Direct program, GoodRx can also tailor its telemedicine solutions to meet employers' needs, such as drilling down to its weight loss platform for those looking to focus on GLP-1 costs and access.
Jensen said the team expects, as early adopters embrace the program, to learn a lot about what works and what doesn't in bringing down pharmaceutical costs for employers and workers. There are currently about 100 programs available, though the GLP-1 category is leading the way.
"I think as this potentially evolves, you learn a lot more about what needs to be true in order to scale to other categories," she said.
The launch also comes at a time where direct-to-consumer sales for prescription drugs are in the headlines. The White House, for example, formally launched its own DTC tool, called TrumpRx, earlier this month, which is built on partnerships with manufacturers around a number of in-demand categories, such as GLP-1s, fertility treatments and insulin.
Jensen said the current moment for DTC is not just empowering consumers but the manufacturers themselves to play a greater role in the patient's journey.
"I think it's bringing the manufacturer forward as a primary player here, in terms of how they choose to support patients right where they can essentially control and provide those prices directly to customers," she said.