Pharma selling direct to patients

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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Pharma companies selling online direct to patients…a direct threat to pharmacy benefit managers such as CVS.

There is a sweet spot for this. Even without insurance, generic drugs are deeply discounted by GoodRx and others. It’s the expensive on-patent drugs that are the sweet spot for direct sales from Big Pharma –> Patients, a win-win that cuts out the middlemen.

https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/drugmakers-are-ditching-middlemen-to-sell-directly-to-patients-56335de4?mod=hp_lead_pos11

Drugmakers Are Ditching Middlemen to Sell Directly to Patients

Companies are rolling out direct-to-patient services, which are selling drugs for weight loss and other uses

By Peter Loftus, The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 8, 2025

  1. Drugmakers are increasingly selling medicines directly to patients, bypassing traditional middlemen and offering discounted prices, often half the list price.
  2. This direct-to-patient model is prominent in the weight-loss drug market, with Eli Lilly selling 30% of Zepbound prescriptions via its online service.
  3. Novo Nordisk sees 10% of its U.S. Wegovy prescription volume from direct cash purchases, contributing to an expected $11.9 billion in global sales. [end quote]

This doesn’t appear to have impacted CVS stock, probably because it’s only a tiny fraction of the overall market.

Wendy

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Direct to patient is fine until you figure out that the thousands of dollars you’re paying isn’t being credited to your Health insurance deductible.

You have to pay the higher “health insurance price” for it to count towards your deductible.

intercst

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