A war is being prepared to become the cloud pharmacy for the health of men. Roman, which launched last year offering erectile dysfunction drugs and recently added a smoking cessation kit, is acquiring Hims for the $ 97 million hair loss market. Today, Roman launched four new products that he expects to cross-sell to users through a unified application of telemedicine subscription and pill administration. Now she sells drugs for premature ejaculation, oral herpes, genital herpes and hair loss in what is often a big discount compared to her local pharmacy. And for those who are far away, is launching a microsite "Calvo is beautiful, too" to find the best razors, lotions and tips to shave your head.
Roman's CEO, Zachariah Reitano
"You're unlikely to buy Bonobos razors or Dollar Shave Club trousers, but with a doctor, it's exactly the opposite," the CEO of Roman tells me. , Zachariah Reitano. "As a client, you feel frustrated if they send you to another place." And so, what started as a single product start is blossoming into a powerful combination of products that can keep loyal users.
Roman begins with a visit from a telemedicine doctor where patients can talk about their health problems without the embarrassment of going to their general practitioner. When appropriate, the doctor can prescribe medications that customers can buy instantly through Roman.
"If you have something that really consumes your day to day, it makes it really difficult or almost impossible to think long term." If you are 30 pounds overweight and are experiencing erectile dysfunction, [it’s the latter symptom] that is dominating the You can focus on the underlying health problem, but most humans are not so logical, and they want the urgent problem to be solved first. "Reitano's theory is that if you can try First the erectile dysfunction or the hair loss of a person, will be determined to face the biggest health challenges for a lifetime. "We hope to work on this so you can breathe deeply and take your back to the monkey," he says. CEO.
But one thing that Roman will not do is prescribe homeopathic remedies or spurious remedies. "We will only offer products that are backed by science and work," says Reitano. In Roman's competitor, he says: "Hims sells gummies. Roman does not do it. No doctor would say that biotin would help you regrow hair, "plus the vitamin can distort blood pressure readings that make it hard to tell if someone is having a heart attack.
" Roman never will slap the sugar with the vitamins, sell them on Snapchat, and say they will grow your hair again, "says Reitano. Roman also benefits from the fact that Reitano's father and one of the company's advisors, Dr. Michael Reitano, was the lead author of an innovative study on how Valacyclovir could be used to suppress the transmission of genital herpes.
What is Roman selling?
With Roman, Hims, PillPack of Amazon acquisition, and more, there is a powerful trend in the emergence of direct consumer medications. Reitano sees it as the result of five events that intersect.
- The evolution of the regulation of telemedicine allows doctors to have a national presence when viewing patients online
- Doctors are being reimbursed less by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers for the same activity, pushing them towards telemedicine
- A precipice of patents is making many medicines suddenly available under generic names.
- Insurance deductibles are increasing, turning patients into consumers
- Technology makes it easier and cheaper to start new medical companies
The $ 88 million Roman A Series he announced last month is proof of this growing trend. Investors consider that the traditional pharmaceutical structure is highly vulnerable to interruptions.
Roman will have to defeat not only security threats and competitors, but also the status quo of maintaining a rigid upper lip. Many men silently suffer these conditions instead of talking. By speaking frankly about his own erectile dysfunction as a side effect of heart medication, Reitano is trying to break the stigma and get more patients to seek help where it's right for them.