Blink Health, a health technology company targeting the high cost of prescription drugs, announced Monday that it now will guarantee the lowest prices on nearly all generic medications with a ‘price match’ program covering more than 500 generic drugs—including the 200 most-prescribed generics in the U.S. and more than 95 percent of medications purchased through Blink.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit that Blink filed in March alleging an “unlawful copycat scheme” against a startup company formed by former Blink executives continues in U.S. District Court.

The price match guarantee is limited to certain medications and excludes narcotic pain killers. The full list of medications covered by the guarantee can be found on the company’s website.

Founded in 2015 by Geoffrey Chaiken, 35, and Matthew Chaiken, 32, Blink Health negotiates directly with prescription medication suppliers and uses technology to bypass intermediaries, including Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), a sector that has come under fire recently for negotiating deals that include “gag rules” that prevent pharmacists from informing consumers when a cash price for a prescription is lower than the PBM negotiated price.

In addition to generic medications, Pharmaceutical Processing reported in late 2016 that Blink inked a deal with Eli Lilly and Company to include all presentations of Humalog (insulin lispro injection 100 units/mL) available at pharmacies, all Humulin U100 formulations (insulin human injection 100 units/mL), and Basaglar (insulin glargine injection 100 units/mL), a long-acting follow-on biologic being introduced this month by Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim.

A March 2018 poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that one in four Americans report taking four or more prescriptions, and 35 percent of those people say that they or a family member has not filled a prescription, has cut pills in half, or has skipped doses because of costs. In that same poll, 80 percent of Americans said that they believe prescription drug prices are unreasonable, and the majority believe lowering prescription drug prices should be a top government priority.

How it Works

Patients purchase their medications through Blink’s website or app and pick up their prescriptions at a participating local pharmacy. According to the company’s website, those pharmacies are located in several supermarkets, including Safeway, Kroger, and Albertsons, as well as in Walmart and Big Box stores such as Costco. The company says 16,000 independent pharmacies nationwide also participate.

If patients find a lower price for their ‘Blink Smart Deal’ prescription at a pharmacy in their community, Blink says it will match that price and refund the difference. To submit a price match claim, the lower offer must be available at a retail pharmacy within the specific community.

Mail delivery and pharmacies outside of the United States are excluded. The lower offer must be a publicly available cash price. Insurance and fee-based membership programs are excluded. Full details of the service are available at www.blinkhealth.com.

Blink Suing Former Exec Startup Company

On March 14 of this year, Blink filed suit in U.S. District Court Southern District of New York against pharmacy startup Hippo Technologies LLC, a company started by former Blink CFO Eugene Kakaulin and former general counsel Charles Jacoby. Blink is seeking $250 million in damages from Hippo for allegedly forming an “unlawful copycat scheme.” 

According to Case No. 18 CV 2258 in the Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial document filed in court, Blink alleges that:  

“Defendant Hippo is a rogue and fraudulent enterprise that is trying to cheat its way into the market by outright thievery. Defendant is attempting to side-step the process of honest business development and competition on the merits, in favor of stealing and misusing Blink’s valuable trade secrets, and proactively seeking out and encouraging former Blink employees who had access to Blink’s trade secrets and related confidential and/or proprietary information to violate their obligations to Blink and steal and continue to steal for the benefit of Defendant.”

In immediate response to the Blink suit, as reported by journalist Lydia Ramsey in Business Insider, Hippo released a statement claiming Blinks’ suit is “a blatant attempt to interfere with fair competition,” adding:

“Hippo offered to retain an independent expert to verify that none of Blink’s non-existent trade secrets are being used in Hippo’s business. Blink declined. This says it all. Hippo is offering patients a better product with stronger industry partnerships, and Blink is now trying to accomplish through the courts what it knows it will not be able to achieve in the market.”

Oral arguments on the case were held May 14, an arbitration motion was withdrawn, and the case has been stayed until October 15, according to docket information reported in PacerMonitor, a website that tracks Federal District Court cases.

(Source: Blink Health LLC; Business Insider; U.S. District Court Southern District of New York; PacerMonitor)