Why LifeMD's CEO isn't concerned about Eli Lilly's DTC site
Eli Lilly (LLY) is launching a digital healthcare experience, which will allow patients to directly order medications from the manufacturer — including obesity treatment drugs — causing telehealth companies to see a downtrend in share prices. Some of these companies include Hims & Hers (HIMS), LifeMD (LFMD), and Medifast (MED).
LifeMD Co-Founder and CEO Justin Schreiber and Medifast CEO Dan Chard join Yahoo Finance to discuss their respective company's stock and why they believe that it was an "overreaction" to the news.
"It's really important to note that there's no difference in price for patients that choose to go directly to Lilly with the LillyDirect program," Schreiber says. "Our providers, or any providers in the country, can actually send scripts to this program, so I think it could help our patients access drugs when they can't find them at a neighborhood pharmacy. "
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Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino.
Video Transcript
JOSH LIPTON: Eli Lilly is launching a new digital health care experience. This new website will allow patients to directly order from the drugmaker, including its weight loss medicine telehealth companies with a foot in the weight loss drug space feeling the pressure today. Shares of companies such as Hims & Hers Health, Weight Watchers, LifeMD, and Medifast all sliding in today's trade.
Joining us now Medifast CEO Dan Chard, along with LifeMD and CEO Justin Schreiber. Guys, welcome both to the show. And thank you so much for joining us. And Justin, maybe I'll start with you. We talked about the news with Eli Lilly. We saw, Justin, investors reacting to that news, reacting to the headline. What did you make of that did? You think that response was fair?
JUSTIN SCHREIBER: Good question. Look, my philosophy is that a rising tide here lifts all boats. I think that anything that Eli Lilly or Novo Nordisk can do to improve access and help patients, like ours, access these drugs that are extremely efficacious and doing so many amazing things for their health is a great thing for our business. So yeah, I think the move in the stock today is an overreaction.
I think it's really important to note that there are no-- there's no difference in price for patients that choose to go directly to Lilly with the LillyDirect program. Our providers, or any providers in the country, can actually send scripts to this program. So I think it could help our patients access drugs when they can't find them at a neighborhood pharmacy.
And look, we're very, very confident in the platform that we've built. We've built one of the leading virtual primary care platforms in the US. We have hundreds of thousands of active patients. We have a very big 50-state medical group that's staffed mostly by full-time providers. We provide incredible health care. Our GLP-1 business is one of the fastest-growing segments of our virtual primary care business. And anything that these drug companies can do to improve access to these medications will help our business.
