Given: Huge Pharma’s strategies to compete with buzzy startups, Sanofi’s entrance to the coronavirus vaccine race, and a Medicare Advantage pitch deck

Hi,

Welcome to Given, Company Insider’s weekly health care newsletter. Today’s edition is being written in warm Palm Springs, California, though unfortunately sent back in chilly New york city.

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The big story I want to highlight this week came from a tag-team between Andrew Dunn and me

Ever given that I first began hearing about companies like Roman, Hims, or Nurx, I’ve been thinking it ‘d only be a matter of time before drugmakers themselves see this as a brand-new way to reach patients.

What Bausch is finishing with its dermatology drugs provides us a good concept of what we might expect.

Huge Pharma just began copying the buzzy startups that deliver Viagra and hair-loss tablets to your door, and it could be the start of a ‘mega-trend’

• The pharmaceutical company Bausch Health is now offering prescription drugs online to treat conditions like acne, wrinkles, and eczema.
• The $9 billion drugmaker is following a technique similar to buzzy startups like Roman and Hims, which use online physician check outs to prescribe Viagra and hair-loss tablets online.
• ” I think that we are ahead of a mega-trend here,” Costs Humphries, president of Bausch’s Ortho Dermatologics service, told Service Expert.
• Dermatology.com is tapping the healthcare innovation start-up RxDefine to help with virtual visits with medical professionals.

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Previously in the week, I got my hands on the pitch deck Troy Medicare’s using to raise its series B. As more companies look to delve into the Medicare Advantage market, it was intriguing to get a take a look at the start-up’s pharmacy-specific approach.

We got a look at the slide deck a medical insurance start-up is using to raise $25 million for its bet that pharmacists can help it handle the red-hot Medicare Advantage market

Continuing my deep-dive into the financials of medical care companies, I spoke to the team at Privia Health about its approach to taking the medical care service nationwide.

Here’s an exclusive appearance at the financials of Privia, an under-the-radar upstart taking on the main care industry

As a pointer: Want to talk financials?

Andrew spent some time up at Intercept Pharmaceuticals’ Hudson Yards offices here in New York.

Andrew likewise has the latest on the race to develop a vaccine for the unique coronavirus

Pharma giant Sanofi is establishing a vaccine to eliminate the deadly coronavirus break out using its previous research study on SARS

I likewise wished to highlight a story from our cannabis fellow, Yeji Lee She took a close look at a CBN, or cannabinol, the current cannabis compound business are pitching to attempt and crack into the wellness market.

The twist: CBN right now is 7X more costly than CBD.

There’s a hot brand-new cannabis compound that declares it’ll help you sleep better. Meet CBN, which is chasing a $1 billion-plus market.

With that, I’ll leave you to your weekends. I’m headed out to Colorado this weekend to see some snow and get some skiing in. Next week, you can look forward to Andrew’s launching Gave hitting your inbox.

In the meantime, you can always discover me at [email protected], or you can reach the whole healthcare group (please do while I’m out!) at [email protected]

– Lydia