HealthDyne foresees rapid growth in its direct-to-employer business, 50,000 lives now and a million in the pipeline | Asembia AXS26 Summit

HealthDyne has 50,000 lives running through its direct-to-employer model but is eyeing a future of many more, according to Sarah Thomas, head of growth and commercialization.

“I think our pipeline is over a million lives right now of employers that are looking at this model in particular,” Thomas said in an interview with Managed Healthcare Executive.

Thomas and Skomo, chief operating officer for HealthDyne, led a session today about affordability and direct-to-patient drug sales at the Asembia AXS26 Summit, a specialty pharmacy meeting in Las Vegas. They were interviewed by Managed Healthcare Executive (MHE).

HealthDyne, a pharmacy technology and distribution company that distributes specialty drugs from pharmacies in Lakeland, Florida, and Centennial, Colorado, announced in January that it will be a dispensing pharmacy for certain Eli Lilly medicines. Lilly has an active direct-to-consumer channel called Lilly Direct that features the company’s immensely popular products, Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide), for weight loss and Type 2 diabetes, respectively. In March, Lilly announced the launch of Lilly Employer Direct, a version of direct-to-patient sales that is configured as a benefit that employers can offer alongside other drug coverage. The Lilly news release about the employer program said that Zepbound would be available from network pharmacies at a discounted price of $449 for all doses.

In her interview with MHE, Thomas emphasized that the direct-to-employer business is new, dating from the March launch of Lilly Employer Direct. But she said her company’s platform for direct-to-employer drug sales could be used by multiple manufacturers.

“It gives the manufacturers the ability to compete and let their products stand on their own,” she said.

HealthDyne’s technology includes digital tools so it can be used “out of the box,” said Thomas, but it can also be API (application programming interface) integrated into an existing experience.

While direct-to-consumer drug sales by Lilly and other drugmakers are set up so individuals pay fully for the drug, one of the advantages of the direct-to-employer programs is that employers might further lower the out-of-pocket costs of drugs with company dollars. Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) are one mechanism for doing so.

“The employer contribution is hardwired in if they’re contributing,” Thomas said.