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We also continue to monitor different things that come out of the White House, and they certainly have made some comments when it comes to healthcare pharmaceuticals in the United States, which is one of the reasons we want to really get to our next guest, good X good Rx. I should say they recently reported earnings. Just a little bit of background. Shares did jump after the price the drug
pricing comparison software company. They did boost their guidance for just a Ibada for the full year, falling better than expected results for the first quarter. We did see analysts saying, some of them that the Ibada beat and raised as a good start to twenty twenty five for the company. Let's get into the business and how White House policies are impacting good Rx. Wendy Barnes is president and CEO of the company. She joins us from Charlotte, North Carolina.
The company, by the way, Marky Kaplin about one point four billion shares two a year to date, or down about twelve percent. They're down more than fifty percent though in the past year. Wendy, good to have you here with us. There's a lot going on in your space. But I want to talk first and start with a new initiative that you guys have actually introduced today. It's called the Community Links program. Why did you do this? What was the impetus for creating it?
Hi, Carol, thanks for having me appreciate the question. So you know, I would say the company's been on a multi year journey to best partner with retail pharmacies, with community pharmacies really being at the top of that list, and this is really the culmination of that work.
And so what you've referenced.
The good RX Community Link is a portal by which community pharmacies sometimes referred to as independent pharmacies. So think of those as really your non chain pharmacies. They can be as small as a single pharmacy or some community independent pharmacy owners have, you know, fifty seventy five or one hundred locations, but largely they're run independent of broader management philosophy, and this is our effort to contract directly
with these pharmacies in a cost plus reimbursement mechanism manner. Look, it's not any new news to you or probably to your listeners that pharmacies continue to be under reimbursement pressure, and we believe that they are key partners in our broader mission to make medications more affordable and accessible for every American. And so this effort is really one in which we're trying to bolster reimbursement for those independent pharmacies
such that they can work with us directly. And in addition to that, we're giving them access to ninety plus brand deals that we have secured with pharmaceutical manufacturers over the last twelve to twenty four months, and those continue to grow such that the reimbursement on those same drugs
is favorable to those pharmacies. It's really no secret that pharmacies have long struggled to have a favorable margin profile on many brands that they fill, and this too gives access to those programs for those independent pharmacies.
Well, Wendy anecdotally speaking, as the large pharmacies and the chains have come under pressure, whether it's over store closures or different things happening just in the space, we've all reported on what's happened in cities and the way that some of these pharmacies have closed down in certain cities. Are you seeing more people go to these independent pharmacies.
I mean, anecdotally speaking, I can say that certainly the way my family has changed its behavior just thanks to availability and what pharmacies tend to actually have what we're looking for. But how have you seen that affect the overall landscape.
I don't know that we've seen a meaningful shift to independent from chain. I think there's still a pretty good mix of grosser versus independent versus chain, and candidly, you know, mail order slash digital pharmacy. I think at the end of the day, what we see is in the seventy plus odd thousand pharmacy options that we have as consumers in the US that as a consumer, you just really want to get your drugs on your own terms, whether it's mail to your home with your preferred community pharmacist
or at a chain or grosser. And we pride ourselves on working really with all pharmacy such that you can get your drugs when and where you know you desire to do so.
Do you see it all that the independent channel is shrinking. We've certainly seen it with some of the big pharmacy chains, right, We've talked about it, You've seen the headlines. But I'm just curious when it comes to independence, Wendy, do you see any shrinkage in terms of the number of outlets that are out There are no.
You know, I will say in the numbers that we've looked at over the last couple of years, there are still a good number opening in any given month. I will say in our book, with the pharmacies that we work with, I haven't seen significant shrinkage.
But I think there are certainly other data sources.
That would suggest that there are a numbers of independent and or community pharmacies that are closing in or selling their business to other owners. But in our particular book, it's held pretty study.
How have independence traditionally reacted to the program at GoodRx, because it's our understanding they've been a little skeptical about it. How do you make sure that they're embracing it rather than treating it with skepticism.
Sure, well, I think you know, Look, it's early days, to be clear, and we're going to be on a journey here. Communication is going to be the biggest part of this program, in addition to delivering what we said we intend to deliver, which is fair economics.
Over the course of these.
Contractual agreements, as pharmacies agree to contract with this directly and that again can all be conveyed through that portal that we stood up this morning.
So for me, it's really.
Going to be about how we deliver on the reimbursement mechanism through this partnership.
And I think, you know, the ongoing communication.
Will support how the pharmacy community embraces this over time. You know, we've certainly been setting out communications early on. We've been in dialogue with many independent pharmacy owners to speak through the program. But I think at the end of the day, it's really going to be the outcome of the program and the economics.
That we deliver that we'll prove it out over time.
Well, that's why I want to kind of just dig a little bit deeper, Wendy. You know, for this to work for you guys, this new rollout, this Community Links program, the economics have to work right for the independent pharmacy. So I'm just curious what you can tell us how the economics are different for the pharmacy that directly contacts with GoodRx versus using maybe one of the pharmacy benefit managers the PBMs and their networks to dispense a prescription.
What can you tell us more specifically about the economic advantage for independent pharmacies to use your route versus going to the PBMs.
Sure happy to do so. So it's really the agreement directly with US is rooted.
On a NAEDEK plus reimbursement.
Is one of multiple benchmarks that is effectively a cost mechanism that stands for national average drug acquisition cost, and we are negotiating with independent pharmacies to do this with that predicated as the baseline, plus an amount that keeps them profitable on filling these claims.
So that's really the precursor, if you.
Will, and or the meat of how this agreement will work, which again provides favorable economics to these pharmacies. The distinction, Carol, as you called out to perhaps doing it through a larger payer, when you think about how it works through let's just say a larger PBM, there are multiple patient pay slash cash networks through which an independent pharmacy can participate. And when they're in that type of an algorithm, for lack of better description, typically it's going to search for
not necessarily favorable margin for the pharmacy. And so there would be times in their previous arrangement, whereby they may not always have favorable economics to fill those prescriptions. And by contracting directly, we are putting terms and conditions in the agreement that allow them to have certainty around not only the reimbursement, but also access to drugs that they're
not fulfilling today in patient pay programs. Again, that would be the list of brands that I mentioned that I believe are ninety plus at this point, that they're going to have certainty around how they're reimbursed in this direct engagement through us that they're not getting through their arrangements today.
Hey, Wendy, we're watching everything happening outside of Washington and coming out of Washington really closely. We're expected to hear from the President in just a few minutes. There's an event happening in the Oval Office that's about a kid account event scheduled. It was scheduled for two pm. We understand the press pool has gathered. If the President starts to take questions, we will certainly go there. In the meantime, thinking about healthcare in the United States, it is inextricably
bound to politics, no question. If what the President calls the big beautiful bill were to pass, we could see at least, according to the CBO estimates of a dramatic increase in the number of uninsured almost eight million. What does that mean for your business and how much of your business comes from medicaid and uninsured people today?
So interestingly, of the users who access our pricing on any given day, roughly ninety percent actually have insurance today. So I think there's a bit of a misperception that the overwhelming number of consumers who use us in fact don't have insurance, which is not the case.
Having said that, who does.
Come and look for pricing through our different platforms is your consumer who's motivated to check for competitive pricing, whether they have insurance or not. And we continue to be the number one platform to look for the best price
deal that you can find on any particular medication. And so as it pertains to what may or may not pass in the bill, whether it's inclusive of Medicaid cuts which continue to be advanced, and or other cuts that would put pressure on your typical household income, what we do know is that those should produce tailwinds for us as a business. For consumers, whether they're insured or not, but specifically as it relates to Medicaid cuts and the
number of individuals that may fall out of coverage. We do believe that that presents an opportunity for us to continue to support any American that really is struggling to purchase their medications.
Wendy, just got thirty seconds. You know, the word that we all use to describe the environment right now is uncertain. There's a lot coming out, certainly leaders and CEOs. Just in your industry too. You've got write Aid doing a bankruptcy. You know, I think about the macro within your business and just macro overall. Just got about twenty five seconds. How do you look at the outlook?
Just quickly, you know the outlook?
You're right, turbulent is a fair description. Having said that, businesses that stay the course and have a mission that makes sense for the consumers in which we serve.
Will continue to thrive.
And our goal, of course is getting medication affordably and effectively into the hands of every American who need it, and we believe it will be in a position to take advantage.
Wendy Barnes, President CEO OFRX