Prescription Drug Discounter GoodRx Launches IPO

GoodRx Holdings Inc., the discount prescription marketplace startup, announced the launch of its initial public offering (IPO) Monday (Sept. 14).

The sale will include 34.6 million shares of its Class A common stock. It is expected to be priced between $24 and $28 per share. If approved, GoodRx will be listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, under the ticker symbol “GDRX.”

“Lack of affordability in healthcare is a contributing reason why 20 percent to 30 percent of prescriptions are left at the pharmacy counter,” the company wrote in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Our mission is to help Americans get the healthcare they need at a price they can afford. GoodRx was founded to solve the challenges that consumers face in understanding, accessing, and affording healthcare.”

Last week, Thomas Goetz, chief of research at GoodRx, told PYMNTS the company has put $10 billion back into the pockets of American consumers.

“We try to make it simple for consumers, ”he said. “We want to make it as straightforward and clear as possible. We literally have billions of prices in our database. The idea is to optimize the best prices for a given drug, depending on the location of the user.”

Founded in 2011, GoodRx gathers drug prices on more than 70,000 U.S. pharmacies for shoppers to compare and track drug prices. In addition, it offers discount coupons to consumers.

It makes money by charging fees to pharmacy benefits managers who partner with it. The company’s website is viewed by more than 10 million Americans who seek the lowest prices for prescription drugs, according to GoodRx.

Two years ago, the startup was valued at $2.8 billion when Silver Lake, the Menlo Park, Calif., technology private equity firm, invested in it.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan and Barclays will act as IPO managers. They will be assisted by BofA Securities, Citigroup, Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC, RBC Capital Markets, UBS Investment Bank, Cowen, Deutsche Bank Securities, Evercore ISI, Citizens Capital Markets, KKR Capital Markets, LionTree Advisors, Raymond James, SVB Leerink, Academy Securities, Loop Capital Markets, R. Seelaus & Co., LLC and Ramirez & Co.