Manufacturers Control Telehealth Distribution
AIOS
This turns telehealth from a standalone seller into a manufacturer managed checkout line. LillyDirect and NovoCare were built to keep the doctor visit, prescription routing, cash pay pricing, and pharmacy fulfillment close to the drug maker, while partners like Ro and Hims can still provide the consumer facing app and intake flow. That setup leaves less room for resellers whose main value is buying access to supply and marking it up.
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Lilly launched LillyDirect in January 2024 as a digital front door for obesity, diabetes, and migraine, with access to independent providers and home delivery of Lilly drugs. NovoCare Pharmacy followed in March 2025, giving Novo a similar direct self pay path for Wegovy and related products.
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The operating model is concrete. A patient can start on Ro or Hims, complete intake and clinician review there, but the prescription and payment can be funneled into manufacturer backed pharmacy rails. Research on Ro shows this already drove more than half of its GLP-1 business by mid 2025.
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Preferred partner deals make scale matter more than pure telehealth functionality. Novo expanded access through Hims in March 2026 at Novo self pay prices, and also listed selected telehealth partners like Ro and LifeMD for Wegovy pill distribution. Manufacturers are choosing which front ends get branded supply and economics.
The next phase is a tighter manufacturer platform bundle, where branded drug makers decide which telehealth apps get inventory, pricing, and checkout integration. In that market, winners will be the platforms that own large patient demand and can serve as a compliant acquisition layer, while thin resellers are pushed to the edge or forced into generics.