June 9, 2025 • 11 mins
GoodRx CEO Wendy Barnes discusses how White House policies are impacting the company, and their recent earnings report. She speaks with Bloomberg's Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
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
(00:29):
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.
(00:51):
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?
(01:13):
What was the impetus for creating it?
Speaker 1 (01:16):
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.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
And so what you've referenced.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
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
(02:01):
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
(02:23):
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
(02:47):
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.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
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.
(03:30):
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.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
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
(04:05):
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.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
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.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
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.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
But I think there are certainly other data sources.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
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.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
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.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
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.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Over the course of these.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
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.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
So for me, it's really.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Going to be about how we deliver on the reimbursement
mechanism through this partnership.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
And I think, you know, the ongoing communication.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
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.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
That we deliver that we'll prove it out over time.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
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
(06:37):
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.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Sure happy to do so. So it's really the agreement
directly with US is rooted.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
On a NAEDEK plus reimbursement.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
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.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So that's really the precursor, if you.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
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.
(07:45):
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
(08:09):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
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,
(08:55):
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
(09:17):
your business comes from medicaid and uninsured people today?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
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.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Having said that, who does.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
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
(10:03):
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,
(10:23):
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.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
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?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Just quickly, you know the outlook?
Speaker 1 (11:04):
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.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Will continue to thrive.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
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.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Wendy Barnes, President CEO OFRX
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
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
(00:29):
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.
(00:51):
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?
(01:13):
What was the impetus for creating it?
Speaker 1 (01:16):
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.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
And so what you've referenced.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
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
(02:01):
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
(02:23):
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
(02:47):
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.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
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.
(03:30):
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.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
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
(04:05):
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.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
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.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
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.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
But I think there are certainly other data sources.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
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.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
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.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
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.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Over the course of these.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
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.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
So for me, it's really.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Going to be about how we deliver on the reimbursement
mechanism through this partnership.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
And I think, you know, the ongoing communication.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
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.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
That we deliver that we'll prove it out over time.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
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
(06:37):
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.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Sure happy to do so. So it's really the agreement
directly with US is rooted.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
On a NAEDEK plus reimbursement.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
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.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So that's really the precursor, if you.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
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.
(07:45):
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
(08:09):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
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,
(08:55):
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
(09:17):
your business comes from medicaid and uninsured people today?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
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.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Having said that, who does.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
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
(10:03):
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,
(10:23):
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.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
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?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Just quickly, you know the outlook?
Speaker 1 (11:04):
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.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Will continue to thrive.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
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.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Wendy Barnes, President CEO OFRX
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