Sydney Lepkin

I think I'm going to back into this answer and tell you that, you know, when we're seeing these competitor GLP-1s, the assumption, because this is the way things have always been, is that they're offering generic drugs.

And that's actually not what's happening here.

Basically, this is not a generic.

This is what is called a compounded drug, which means that the drug is made instead of in a manufacturing drug company's facility by a drug company going through FDA approval.

It is made by a special kind of pharmacist, a compounding pharmacist.

Their sort of bread and butter is that they make custom drugs for people that need them.

So the example is like, okay, you need a pill, but the brand name commercial version has a preservative in it that you're actually allergic to, but you still need that pill.

So you would go to a compounding pharmacist and then they would...

custom prepare the version for you that you are not allergic to because you obviously need that.

And it's a crucial part of health care.

They're generally not supposed to make what are called, quote, essentially copies.

And I'm using air quotes for those who can't see me.

Essentially copies of existing commercial brand name drugs.

But there's an exception.

The exception is when that brand name drug is in shortage.

Then the compounding pharmacies can pitch in.

Now, these GLP-1s that we've been talking about their popularity, in fact, they were so, so, so popular that the drug companies didn't make enough supply.

And all of a sudden, you know, compounders were like, well, we can actually do this for cheaper than the list price for Wagovi is like $1,400 a month.

So all of a sudden, people could get it for cheaper.

Telehealths were helping connect them with physicians.