Ro launches GLP-1 supply tracker to help patients cope with shortages

Telehealth company Ro on Wednesday launched a new tracker to help patients find a popular class of weight-loss and diabetes drugs called GLP-1s amid a shortage of those treatments in the U.S.

A supply tracker could be a valuable tool for many Americans scrambling to obtain GLP-1s, such as Novo NordiskWeight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes medication Ozempic. Demand for these drugs has far exceeded supply over the past year, forcing Novo Nordisk and Novo Nordisk Eli Lillythe dominant players in the market, to invest heavily to expand their manufacturing scale.

The tracker aims to make GLP-1 supply information more transparent and accessible to everyone, regardless of whether they are enrolled in any of the Ro programs. The company is one of several digital health companies offering weight-loss programs that can give users a GLP-1 prescription and access to coaching and other services.

The tracker is an interactive tool that provides people with real-time supply information by medication, dose size, and pharmacy location. Existing drug shortage databases, including those managed by the US Food and Drug Administration, often do not share local data.

“We're trying to make it as easy as possible for patients and providers to get a quick snapshot of what's available, what's not available, and do it in the quickest way,” Zaccaria Reitano, co-founder and CEO of Ro, told CNBC in an interview.

He added that the GLP-1 shortage appears to be a “national health care crisis.”

“I don't think people fully register that life-saving, life-changing medications that could benefit more than 100 million people in the United States are currently in significant shortages, and that patients are facing problems every month,” Reitano said.

Ro chose to make the tool free for anyone to use because there is no “inventory management platform” for GLP-1s, making it a significant contribution to the broader community that relies on those drugs, according to Reitano. Opening up the tracer to everyone also increases the likelihood that Ro patients and people not enrolled in the company's programs will have access to GLP-1s, he added.

Anyone, including doctors, can send an update to the Ro tracker by filling out a report about the availability or shortage of GLP-1 at a specific pharmacy in their area. Users have the option to automatically report this information to the FDA.

Ro will update the tracker based on its supply data, which is generated when the company's patients register that they have successfully obtained their medications from the pharmacy. Ro will also update the tracker with the latest information from the US Food and Drug Administration, according to the company.

In order to confirm that there is a real shortage of the drug, Reitano said the tracker takes into account a combination of speed, location and number of orders placed. For example, one report over a two-month period may not impact the tracker.

Ro has been building the GLP-1 tracker for about two months, Reitano said. The company has not cooperated with the FDA directly, but providing the agency with more real-time data could help it keep its deficiency list as up-to-date as possible, he said.

This, in turn, means doctors will be able to make more informed choices about the best medications to prescribe to patients, Reitano said.

“If that list is out of date relative to reality, you will write a prescription assuming the patient is able to access it,” Reitano said. “They don't do that or they may be able to start but not continue, and that causes disruptions in their treatment.”

Individuals can sign up to receive automatic email alerts about when a specific GLP-1 drug becomes available at a nearby pharmacy. The tracker also alerts patients about changes in GLP-1 supplies in the FDA's drug shortage database.

The alerts include instructions to ask the pharmacy to transfer its prescription to another location that has stock. Any patient can also message Ro's care team to transfer their prescriptions on their behalf.

Ro, founded under the name Roman in 2017, has been helping patients treat obesity since 2020. Reitano told CNBC in March that after the FDA approved Wegovy in 2021, patient inquiries about the drug began pouring in by the “tens of thousands.” .

As a result, the company launched a GLP-1 program called Ro Body Program early last year.

Ro can prescribe medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy, and also offers compounded versions of GLP-1s when branded versions are in short supply. GLP-1 combination compounds are tailored alternatives to brand-name medications designed to meet the needs of a specific patient.

Since launching the Body Program, Ro has become keenly aware of the challenges that can arise from lack of supply. The company temporarily stopped advertising the program due to shortages last year, and offered refunds and credits to patients who were unable to receive their medications within 30 days of getting a prescription.

Reitano said the company made more than 50,000 calls between July and August of last year to try to transfer prescriptions to different pharmacies.

Reitano hopes the tracker will make it easier for patients and providers to find supplies of GLP-1 and report shortages to the FDA in real time, especially as demand for the drugs increases.

But he said his “biggest hope” is that Ro's supply-tracking device will become “useless” three years from now as more supplies of GLP-1 come to market and shortages ease.

“It's better for us, it's better for patients, it's better for the health care system as well,” Reitano told CNBC.