Nurx Accelerates Growth into Migraine Treatments, Puts a Pause on COVID-19 Tests
Nurx has grown to over 300,000 active monthly users since the pandemic started - attributing the majority of their recent growth from new patients for birth control delivery. The company uses its telemedicine prescription service to assess a variety of medication needs, including emergency contraception, HIV prevention (PrEP), as well as STI testing and some STI treatments. These telemedicine consults have been steadily growing at over 20% month over month for the past year, and Nurx is currently available to 90% of the US population.
Nurx offers over 100 types of birth control.
In addition to increased interest for birth control prescriptions via video consult, another shift correlating to the pandemic has been an increase in demand for longer-term forms of contraception, and especially those that can be self-administered. Nurx's partnership with TherapeuticsMD gives customers access to ANNOVERA, the first FDA-approved long-lasting (1 year) birth control that doesn't require a medical procedure. This flexible silicone ring releases a steady dose of progestin and estrogen and requires the user to insert and remove monthly, 21 days in and 7 days out, for up to 13 months. ANNOVERA adds to Nurx's suite of birth control deployment channels, including pills, patches, and shots.
A recent funding extension ($22.5MM in early August 2020, increasing total funding to roughly $113MM) will help grow the team and expedite their expansion into personalized migraine and hormone-driven treatments. Plans for diagnosing migraines and headaches include tracking patients' cognitive, cranial, and motor control through recorded tests and frequent telehealth check-ins. Migraines and headaches are a fluid tie-in to birth control as many women experience "menstrual migraines" when not on hormonal birth control (a response to a drop in estrogen pre-period). In contrast, some women have the opposite effect and need progesterone-only pills, highlighting the required personalization in birth control and why so many options exist.
Entering into hormone-driven issues like migraines will also help Nurx differentiate from the growing list of telehealth/medicine delivery companies (including Simple Health), along with Nurx's ability to take health insurance, which companies like Hers don't currently offer.
Nurx launched at home STI testing in 2019.
In March 2020, the company announced plans to roll out an at-home COVID-19 throat swab test kit with their long-time partner, Vancouver, Washington based Molecular Testing Labs. Targeting guaranteed results in 24 to 48 hours, the $200 service would make Nurx one of the fastest COVID-19 testing kits available. Nurx had planned on launching with 10,000 test kits. However, as of March 22st, they hit pause, citing "new guidance from the FDA." Some companies have forged ahead, notably, Hers, which launched their $150 test with a few caveats ("authorized by the FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization for use by authorized laboratories. This test has not been FDA cleared or approved").
If anything, this is another signal that the at-home telehealth and prescription delivery market is hitting its stride. We'll be on the watch for consolidation over the next several years, as larger healthcare companies and providers look for that additional healthcare-wherever edge these companies provide.
