How LucyRx is Changing the Traditional PBM Model

According to David Blair, CEO of independent pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) LucyRx, the delivery of prescription care in the US is broken. There is a breadth of federal legislation that can possibly redirect how pharmacy benefits are distributed and how prescription drugs are priced nationwide. However, as bills stall and tension increases, companies like LucyRx are looking to bypass the industry’s red tape and deliver cost-effective outcomes.

“There's actually an interesting report late last year that 42% of all newly diagnosed cancer patients will run out of their life savings within 2 years of that diagnosis because they just can't afford the treatment,” Blair told Drug Topics. “If you look at the employer level, they're cutting back. Even if you think about our country as a whole, we spend 2 and a half to 3 times as much on drugs per person than any other comparable country, so we just can't afford it. LucyRx came about because we need to fix this broken prescription care model.”

In this week’s episode of Over the Counter, Blair joined Drug Topics to discuss the work of LucyRx and the ongoing issues within pharmacy that have led to a need for a new model of prescription delivery. He discussed Lucy’s passion for improving health care in the US, the innovation that is driving the business, and the continued challenges it is looking to address.

“LucyRx came about because of a very simple observation: The delivery of prescription care in this country is broken,” continued Blair. “The name Lucy is derived from Latin meaning ‘light,’ and we are illuminating paths to the most care and cost-effective solutions.”

Stay tuned for weekly podcast episodes on Over the Counter every Thursday afternoon. Check out our previous episode with Jenny Markell, PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and expert in prescription drug markets. She sat down with Drug Topics to discuss misinformation in drug advertising and how it may impact patients worldwide.

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