Amazon’s interest in the prescription medication space revealed last week offered another example of how companies regard the prescription medication space as ripe for disruption. This week, a telehealth startup that wants to make it easier to obtain prescription medication for certain conditions closed an $11 million Series A round, according to its website.
Lemonaid Health, formerly known as Icebreaker Health, has a presence in 14 states and regards its service as a way of breaking down state barriers to more efficient healthcare delivery. It also views the physician shortage as creating a need for more efficient ways of assessing patients for and prescribing drugs through its interactive app. The company boasts that its service reduces the time it takes to get prescription medication from weeks to a couple of hours.
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The San Francisco-based company’s service currently covers eight conditions such as acid reflux, acne, birth control, erectile dysfunction, and urinary tract infection. Lemonaid has a direct-to-consumer business model and charges $15 a pop for users to apply for prescriptions. Depending on where users live, users answer a set of medically relevant questions, doctors review the answers, and, if appropriate, recommend a treatment plan and send a prescription to a pharmacy of the user’s choosing. Some states require video interviews with its doctors.
Lemonaid CEO Paul Johnson said in a phone interview it planned to build out clinical services and add lab testing by partnering with labs. It has partnered with a business called Phi to provide home deliveries of prescriptions, according to its website.
Novartis Venture Fund and Hikma Ventures led the Series A round. Correlation Ventures, Adaptive Healthcare Fund, Vega Ventures and 415 Ventures also took part in the round.
It will be interesting to see which conditions Lemonaid moves into next. Although the fast track prescription medication service it offers will do well with some conditions, the more complex the medications and conditions get, the more challenging and more risky it will be to assess the best medication for patients.
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Photo: Devrimb, Getty Images
