GoodRX Pays $150M for Health Platform vitaCare

Digital healthcare platform GoodRx is set to acquire vitaCare Prescription Services from TherapeuticsMD for $150 million, the company announced Monday (March 7).

The vitaCare platform helps patients understand their health coverage, identify ways to save and facilitates communication between payors and providers, while also providing a path to get prescriptions filled through its network of third-party pharmacies.

In addition to the purchase price, GoodRx said it will pay an additional $7 million contingent upon vitaCare’s financial performance through next year.

GoodRX pointed to data showing that only 50% of the 500 million brand prescriptions written each year are actually filled, often because people simply can’t afford them. The company said the vitaCare acquisition will give it more ways to facilitate prescriptions and make sure patients can access and afford the medications they need.

“We couldn’t be more excited to join GoodRx and be part of a team that is working to put affordable healthcare within reach for everyone,” said John Milligan, ​​CEO at vitaCare Prescription Services.

“Consumers come to vitaCare looking for a seamless, patient-first experience that will help them get the brand medications they are prescribed. Upon joining the GoodRx team, we hope to expand our network of pharmaceutical manufacturers and put even more therapies within reach for consumers,” Milligan said.

Read more: New Approaches to Discounts, Fees, Digital Experience Reshaping Pharmacy Sector

The deal comes at a time when — as PYMNTS reported last week — the prescription business is struggling amid changes in pricing, product and the shifting landscape of retail pharmacies, prescription delivery services and other players.

These trends were evident recently in GoodRx’s fourth-quarter 2021 earnings, where healthy gains in monthly active consumers were offset by increased prices and ongoing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The effects of COVID have remained longer than we expected, causing its impact to be greater than we expected,” GoodRx’s Co-founder and Co-CEO Trevor Bezdek said last week. “There’s been volatility in total prescriptions, new prescriptions, doctor visits and even long lines for consumers to fill scripts due to vaccine administration, all had some impact on our business.”