10-K
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gdrx-10k_20201231.htm
10-K
gdrx-10k_20201231.htm
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
OR
Commission File Number: 001-39549
GoodRx Holdings, Inc.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (855) 268-2822
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A Common Stock, $0.0001 par value GDRX The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. YES ☐ NO ☒
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. YES ☐ NO ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. YES ☒ NO ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). YES ☒ NO ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒ Small reporting company ☐
Emerging growth company ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES ☐ NO ☒
The registrant was not a public company as of the last business day of its most recently completed second fiscal quarter and, therefore, cannot calculate the aggregate market value of its voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates as of such date.
As of March 5, 2021 the registrant had 63,544,290 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and 328,588,785 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement relating to its 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 are incorporated herein by reference in Part III.
Table of Contents
Page
PART I
Item 1. Business 6
Item 1A. Risk Factors 24
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 72
Item 2. Properties 72
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 72
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 72
PART II
Item 6. Selected Financial Data 75
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 98
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 98
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 98
Item 9B. Other Information 101
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 102
Item 11. Executive Compensation 108
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 122
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 123
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Glossary of Selected Terminology
As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless the context otherwise requires, references to:
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Certain monetary amounts, percentages, and other figures included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have been subject to rounding adjustments. Percentage amounts included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have not in all cases been calculated on the basis of such rounded figures, but on the basis of such amounts prior to rounding. For this reason, percentage amounts in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may vary from those obtained by performing the same calculations using the figures in our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain other amounts that appear in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may not sum due to rounding.
Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K include, but are not limited to statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, industry and business trends, stock compensation, business strategy, plans, market growth and our objectives for future operations.
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The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the important factors discussed in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscalyear ended December 31, 2020. The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents that we reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and have filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.
Summary Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should carefully consider these risks and uncertainties when investing in our Class A common stock. The principal risks and uncertainties affecting our business include the following:
• We rely on a limited number of industry participants;
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
Our mission is to help Americans get the healthcare they need at a price they can afford. To achieve this, we are building the leading, consumer-focused digital healthcare platform in the United States.
GoodRx was founded to solve the challenges that consumers face in understanding, accessing, and affording healthcare. We started with a price comparison tool for prescriptions, offering consumers free access to lower prices on their medication. We wanted to help ensure that no parent had to choose between their child’s next meal and their life-saving medication. Today, we believe our expanded platform improves the health and financial well-being of American families by providing easy access to price transparency and affordability solutions for generic and brand medications, affordable and convenient medical provider consultations via telehealth and additional healthcare services and information. In addition to reducing the costs of healthcare for consumers, we believe that our offerings can help drive greater medication adherence, faster treatment and better patient outcomes.
We see exciting growth potential as we continue to attract new consumers through our existing offerings, launch new offerings to address more of the needs of healthcare consumers, and improve healthcare affordability and access for all Americans. As we extend our platform, we believe that we can create multiple monetization opportunities at different stages of the consumer healthcare journey, enabling us to drive higher expected consumer lifetime value without significant additional consumer acquisition costs.
Our business model has facilitated the rapid growth and expansion of our platform. We have been focused on capital efficiency and delivering on a cash generative monetization model since inception, and we have been able to reinvest our cash flows in our business. As a result, our consumers can now access an increasingly broad platform with a variety of integrated offerings that provide healthcare affordability, access and convenience. Whether a consumer is insured or uninsured, young or old, or suffers from an acute or a chronic ailment, we strive to be at the consumer’s side throughout their healthcare journey.
Our platform has been effective because we positively impact stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. Benefits to participants in the healthcare ecosystem include: achieving better outcomes by increasing medication adherence; providing fast access to preventative care to reduce the strain on hospitals and emergency departments; increasing accessibility to affordable prescriptions that otherwise may not have been filled; and enhancing consumer satisfaction and engagement. We believe that consumers, healthcare providers, pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”), pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and telehealth providers all win with GoodRx. Our partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem, scale and strong consumer brand create a deep competitive moat that is reinforced by our proprietary technology platform, which processes and integrates pricing data points into an interface that is convenient and easy to use for consumers.
Industry Challenges
Despite the U.S. healthcare market being one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy, it remains opaque and highly fragmented for consumers. Even simple healthcare transactions, such as finding a doctor or filling a prescription at an affordable price, are difficult. This can lead to confusion, inefficiency and unneeded additional costs for consumers and the healthcare system. The pharmacy is the de-facto “front door” to American healthcare, with frequent consumer interaction and engagement. However, finding affordable prices for prescriptions is complicated by a lack of price transparency, a confusing reimbursement and insurance landscape and a fragmented marketplace in which the list prices for the same medication can vary more than 100 times across pharmacies. Similarly, people who need to see healthcare professionals can face the same lack of price transparency, as well as exceedingly long wait times to access the care that they need.
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We believe that these challenges are driven in part by a lack of consumer-focused solutions that enable consumers to easily search, discover and access the product or service that they need at an affordable price. Technology similar to that which has been deployed to help consumers buy airline tickets, rent homes or hail cars can also be utilized in the highly complex healthcare market to make healthcare affordable, accessible and efficient. Consumer-focused technology solutions are even more essential in healthcare than in other industries given that the stakes involve peoples’ health and lives.
The challenges that healthcare consumers face have been increasing for decades, while the solutions to combat these issues have remained largely absent:
Our Market Opportunity
A paradigm shift is occurring in healthcare as consumers are both increasingly informed and cost-conscious. We believe that allowing people to transact using more information than ever before will help Americans consume healthcare more efficiently. This can be accomplished by providing a healthcare platform that allows consumers to search a broad range of choices and offerings, discover what is best for them, transact based on their preferences, and receive the best price while doing so.
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We believe this market opportunity is substantial and estimate the total addressable market (“TAM”) for our current solutions to be approximately $800 billion. This includes a $524 billion prescription opportunity, inclusive of prescriptions that are written but not filled, a $30 billion pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions opportunity and a $250 billion telehealth opportunity.
Prescription Opportunity
The vast majority of the utilization of our platform relates to generic medications. We also enable consumers to save on brand medications. We believe that the prices available through our platform are highly competitive, for both insured and uninsured consumers, and our platform enables consumers to save on prescription medications regardless of whether the consumer is insured or not. We believe we can drive significant growth in our prescription opportunity through our ability to continue to provide attractive prescription pricing to consumers.
Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Solutions Opportunity
Brand medications tend to be expensive, and insurance coverage is complicated and may be restrictive. Pharmaceutical manufacturers provide affordability solutions, such as co-pay cards, patient assistance programs and other savings options, so that consumers can access their medications. We partner with pharmaceutical manufacturers to advertise and integrate these affordability solutions into our platform. We believe this offering can deliver incremental margin as we deploy these solutions across our existing base of consumers and visitors.
Telehealth Opportunity
The telehealth market is a natural expansion of our platform. There is a growing consumer preference for on-demand services, which is rapidly changing how healthcare services are delivered. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the utilization of telehealth among consumers. We believe that the addition of telehealth to our platform will increase consumer engagement and improve outcomes. Through GoodRx Care and the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace, we can provide consumers with a convenient and affordable way to receive a diagnosis and a prescription online, when medically appropriate, and we believe our telehealth offerings will enhance the accessibility of our prescription offering for these consumers. Consumers may opt in to use our prescription offering through GoodRx Care in order to fill their prescriptions. We also partner with some of the telehealth providers in the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace to enable consumers to opt in to use our prescription offering for their prescription needs after they complete their online visit. These integrated solutions provide our consumers with additional value and convenience in their healthcare journey and add monetization opportunities for us after consumers visit a healthcare professional online.
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Our Value Proposition
GoodRx was founded to provide consumers with solutions to the complexity, affordability and transparency challenges American healthcare presents. These challenges can reduce medication adherence and can have severe, broad-ranging impacts on both the health and financial well-being of Americans. Our platform helps to improve the lives of individuals by providing them with easy access to affordable healthcare. In addition to reducing the costs of healthcare for consumers, we believe that our platform can drive greater medication adherence, faster treatment and better patient outcomes, all of which can create a healthier, happier population.
We positively impact many key stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. Benefits to participants in the broader healthcare ecosystem include: achieving better outcomes by increasing medical adherence; providing timely access to preventative care to reduce the strain on hospitals and emergency departments; increasing access to affordable prescriptions that otherwise may not have been filled; and enhancing consumer satisfaction. We believe that consumers, healthcare providers, PBMs, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and telehealth providers all win with GoodRx. This, in turn, can drive beneficial and self-reinforcing network effects.
Our value proposition by stakeholder is described below:
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Our Offerings
Prescription Offering
We have built a vast network of relationships, contracts and integrations with key stakeholders in the healthcare industry. Our proprietary technology enables us to aggregate prescription pricing data points from sources spanning the healthcare industry. We structure and normalize the presentation of the data to give consumers curated, geographically relevant pricing information that is accessible through our apps or websites for free. By normalize, we refer to a process of taking the various different pricing methodologies and medication lists from each of our sources, and homogenizing the presentation of this data so that prices are directly comparable. Consumers can choose the lowest price from a selection of nearby pharmacies, save a GoodRx code to their mobile device for free and present that code at their pharmacy to access that low price.
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Once a consumer has used a GoodRx code from our platform to purchase a prescription, that code is recorded in the pharmacy’s database and the consumer is not required to present their GoodRx code again for subsequent prescription refills, or, in many cases, for additional prescriptions that the consumer purchases at that pharmacy. We earn revenue upon the initial usage of the GoodRx code when the consumer realizes savings compared to the list price at the pharmacy, and we continue to earn revenue when the consumer returns to the pharmacy for refills and new prescriptions. This results in high and increasing repeat activity, which refers to the second and later use of our discounted prices by a single GoodRx consumer, on our platform. We track prices and update our database on a daily basis, which helps ensure that consumers have access to accurate prescription pricing.
Our pricing sources span the healthcare industry and include PBMs, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, patient assistance programs, and others, making it difficult to replicate the data we possess and share with consumers. We believe it is important to work with as many of the key stakeholders of the healthcare industry as possible in order to increase the affordability options for our consumers. Our broad set of long-term relationships across the industry, combined with our proprietary platform, allows us to present highly competitive prices to consumers.
PBMs are the most common source of pricing information and are the source of the majority of our revenue from prescriptions. Our proprietary technology enables us to combine prices from multiple PBMs and other industry sources and display it on a single consumer interface. We believe that we maintain the largest database of aggregated pricing information across PBMs in the United States. When a transaction occurs in which one of our consumers fills a prescription and saves compared to the list price using a GoodRx code, the PBM receives a portion of the price that the consumer paid. We receive a percentage of this amount or a fixed payment from the PBM as compensation for directing the consumer to that PBM’s pricing and the pharmacy.
As we help more consumers save money on their medications and drive additional traffic through various PBMs, we increase our scale, which over time leads to lower prices for our consumers. We have steadily increased the number of PBMs with which we work over time. To date, a PBM has never terminated a relationship with us. Even if a contract with a PBM were to be terminated, many of our contracts require the PBM to continue to pay us for activity by consumers originally directed to their pricing by us, even subsequent to the contract termination. The ongoing payment obligation can continue for so long as the underlying PBM-specific pricing is used, or for certain partners, for a specified multi-year period, depending on the terms of our contract with the PBM. Throughout our history, we have been able to help our consumers realize increased savings. PBM mix and relative share on our platform has varied over time as we have added new PBMs and as certain PBMs have delivered more or less favorable pricing relative to other PBMs. Even as the mix has changed, we have continued to grow and deliver a strong value proposition to our consumers. We believe that our sources of pricing are sufficiently broad and robust that the loss of any one PBM or other healthcare partner would generally result in minimal disruption in our ability to provide competitive discounts and pricing. Although the majority of our pricing information comes from PBMs, we also collect pricing data points from other sources in order to help save our consumers as much money as possible.
Subscription Offerings
Our subscription offerings are a natural extension of our successful prescription offering. We leverage our relationships across the healthcare ecosystem and our product expertise to provide subscribers with even greater savings and convenience at select pharmacies. We launched our first subscription offering, Gold, in 2017, and added a second offering, Kroger Savings, in 2018.
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Our subscription offerings are designed to be easy to use and provide subscribers with added benefits and features, such as refill reminders, price alerts and other notifications.
Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Solutions Offering
Brand medications tend to be expensive, and insurance coverage is complicated and may be restrictive. As a result, many consumers are not able to access or afford these medications.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers provide affordability solutions such as co-pay cards, patient assistance programs, care portals and other savings options so that consumers can access their medications. We partner with pharmaceutical manufacturers to advertise and integrate these affordability solutions into our platform. For example, a consumer searching for a brand medication on our platform can select their insurance status and related criteria so that we can automatically determine their eligibility for specific manufacturer savings solutions, and route them to the best option.
In addition, the patient can sign up for ongoing savings alerts related to that medication. We believe our trusted brand, large volume of high intent consumers and easy-to-use interface make our platform highly attractive to pharmaceutical manufacturers. These solutions generally increase the likelihood that consumers will start or continue their prescribed medication.
Our pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions offering delivers a product that both increases overall consumer satisfaction and drives incremental consumer lifetime value at a low incremental cost to us. We expect to continue to grow this offering through further engagement with pharmaceutical manufacturers. We believe this offering can deliver incremental margin as we deploy these solutions across our existing base of consumers and visitors.
Telehealth Offerings
We have built a telehealth platform that is designed to meet the needs of our consumers who seek rapid and affordable access to quality care. Our two-pronged approach includes our own telehealth provider, GoodRx Care, as well as our GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace, which is a marketplace designed to bring third party providers to our ecosystem so that we can provide consumers with a breadth of services in a single platform.
We launched our telehealth offerings in 2019 with the acquisition of GoodRx Care (formerly HeyDoctor). We have in-house healthcare providers through our affiliated professional entities and contracts with a network of on-demand physicians who operate on our purpose-built EHR. Our EHR includes messaging, video chat and electronic prescriptions, and integrates with our prescription offering. We offer telehealth visits to provide consumers with quick, easy and affordable access to healthcare, covering over 35 conditions across 50 states, with visits starting at $19, which are offered to patients on a cash-pay basis outside of insurance.
Consumers who search for medication on GoodRx in certain instances may not have a prescription at the time of their search. Through GoodRx Care, we provide consumers with a convenient and affordable way to receive a diagnosis and a prescription online, when medically appropriate. Once they complete their online visit, consumers are able to choose to fill their prescriptions, should they receive one, at retail locations using a GoodRx code, or via mail order through a third-party partner. Our expansion into telehealth has unlocked additional growth opportunities through access to Americans with no or inadequate access to primary care physicians.
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In March 2020, we launched our GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace, an online marketplace for individuals to access third-party providers of telehealth and lab tests. Our GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace added additional services, conditions, and geographies to our online telehealth offerings, and also provides alternative providers for the conditions and geographies already covered by GoodRx Care, providing consumers with additional options to choose from. The GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace allows consumers to search for treatment for over 150 conditions across all 50 states, and displays results with information that helps consumers compare services, review prescription delivery options, and receive pricing information. Our marketplace also presents similar information for lab tests, allowing consumers to search for providers by lab test type. Current services range from screenings and diagnosis to treatment plans and prescriptions, covering medical issues such as birth control, acne, urinary tract infections, COVID-19, cold and flu. We earn fees for directing traffic to these third-party telehealth providers in our marketplace.
Together with GoodRx Care, the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace provides a set of integrated solutions that simplifies the consumer healthcare journey and offers quick, easy and affordable access to treatment. From the comfort of their own homes, consumers can use our services to complete an online visit with a doctor and get a prescription, all within minutes. In March 2020, we also launched an integrated service that allows GoodRx Care consumers to opt in to use our prescription offering for their prescription needs after they complete their online visit. We have also partnered with some of the telehealth providers in the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace to enable consumers to opt in to use our prescription offering for their prescription needs after they complete their online visit. The introduction of these integrated solutions and the addition of mail order provides our consumers with additional value and convenience in their healthcare journey, and adds monetization opportunities for us after consumers visit a healthcare professional online.
Sales & Marketing
We attract consumers to our apps and websites through several entry points:
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Consumers come to our platform organically and also through our sales and marketing initiatives. The GoodRx brand benefits from word-of-mouth recommendations to consumers from friends, healthcare professionals and pharmacists, as well as press coverage, which drives significant unpaid traffic to our apps and websites.
In addition to organic consumer acquisition, our sales and marketing efforts are designed to bring new consumers onto our platform for the first time and to re-engage existing consumers. We acquire new consumers through a variety of channels.
• Direct to Consumer Marketing:
• Marketing through Partners
• Content Creation
We believe that we still have significant opportunities to improve our unaided awareness, to build our brand, as well as to scale existing marketing channels, and unlock new ones.
We also deploy a variety of consumer retention tools on our platform. These include:
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Our Technology:
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Our Growth Strategy
The key elements of our growth strategy include:
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Competition and Industry Participants
Although we have built and scaled a differentiated consumer internet platform, we face a variety of types of competition. We believe that our primary barrier to adoption is awareness. Americans have historically not had to be active consumers of healthcare since benefit plans were more generous and open than they are today. Many consumers are not aware that prices for the same prescription vary between pharmacies or that there are competitive cash prices available that may be lower than insurance prices. Similarly, most consumers are not aware of the range of direct-to-consumer telehealth options available at low cash prices, and think that they must wait days or weeks to see a doctor in-person. We have had to raise consumer awareness about healthcare consumerism and we believe that we will need to continue to be a market leader in raising consumer and healthcare provider awareness for our services and products.
We compete with companies that provide prescription savings, telehealth, and solutions to pharmaceutical manufacturers. New entrants may also enter our industry and compete with us. Generally, we believe that we are able to compete effectively against these organizations based on our brand, scale, pricing and consumer experience. Our competitors vary in size and breadth of their offerings.
There is currently significant concentration in the U.S. healthcare industry, and in particular there are a limited number of PBMs, including pharmacies’ in-house PBMs, and a limited number of national pharmacy chains. If we are unable to retain favorable contractual arrangements with our PBMs, including any successor PBMs should there be further consolidation of PBMs, we may lose them as customers, or the negotiated rates provided by such PBMs may become less competitive, which could have an adverse impact on our platform.
A limited number of PBMs generate a significant percentage of the discounted prices that we present through our platform and, as a result, we generate a significant portion of our revenue from contracts with a limited number of PBMs. We work with more than a dozen PBMs that maintain cash networks and prices, and the number of PBMs we work with has significantly increased over time, limiting the extent to which any one PBM contributes to our overall revenue; however, we may not expand beyond our existing PBM partners and the number of our PBM partners may even decline. Our three largest PBM partners accounted for 61% of our revenue in 2018, 55% of our revenue in 2019 and 42% of our revenue in 2020. For additional information, see “We rely on a limited number of industry participants.” in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Intellectual Property
Our success depends in part on our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our products and technology platform, defend and enforce our intellectual property rights, preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets, and operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating valid and enforceable intellectual property rights of others. We protect our intellectual property, including our brand, through a combination of trademarks, patents, trade secrets, contractual provisions that restrict partners from infringing on our intellectual property, intellectual property assignment agreements, licensing agreements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements, and employee non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements to establish and protect our proprietary rights. Though we rely in part upon these legal and contractual protections, we believe that factors such as our position as the largest healthcare-focused internet platform for prescription prices and discounts, our scale and the network effects enabled by these factors, as well as the skills and ingenuity of our employees and the functionality and frequent enhancements to our platform are larger contributors to our success.
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As of December 31, 2020, we owned three issued patents and four pending patent applications in the United States. One issued patent relates to our ability to combine prices from multiple PBMs together in a single consumer interface. Our issued patents begin expiring in 2034, excluding any patent term adjustment. As of December 31, 2020, we held 9 registered trademarks in the United States, including trademarks for our brand, GoodRx, and for the use of the color yellow in the prescription discounts space. In addition, we have registered domain names for websites that we use in our business, such as www.goodrx.com and www.heydoctor.com.
We continually review our development efforts to assess the existence and patentability of new intellectual property and we intend to pursue additional intellectual property protection to the extent we believe it would advance our business objectives. Notwithstanding these efforts, there can be no assurance that we will adequately protect our intellectual property or that it will provide any competitive advantage. We cannot provide any assurance that any patents will be issued from our pending or any future applications or that any issued patents will adequately protect our products and technology. Our intellectual property rights may be invalidated, circumvented or challenged. In addition, it may be difficult to protect our trade secrets. While we have confidence in the measures we take to protect and preserve our trade secrets, they may be inadequate and can be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for violations of such measures. Furthermore, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors. For more information regarding risks related to intellectual property, please see “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Intellectual Property.”
Data Protection
The data we collect and process is an integral part of our products and services, allowing us to ensure our prices are accurate, provide an engaging consumer experience, surface the most relevant prices and reach and advertise to consumers with relevant information. We do not sell personal information as part of our business model.
We collect and may use personal information to help run our business (including for analytical and marketing purposes) and to communicate and otherwise reach our consumers. In some instances, we may use third party service providers to assist us in the above.
We endeavor to treat our consumers’ data with respect and maintain consumer trust. We provide our consumers with options designed to allow them to control their data, such as allowing our consumers to opt out of any marketing requests, opt out of the use of marketing cookies, pixels and technologies on our platform, and request deletion of their data. Our privacy and security teams are devoted to processing and fulfilling consumer requests regarding access to and deletion of their data.
Our respect for laws and regulations regarding the collection and processing of personal data underlies our strategy to improve our customer experience and build trust. To read more about our approach to privacy laws and the regulations, please see “—Government Regulation” and “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Actual or perceived failures to comply with applicable data protection, privacy and security, advertising and consumer protection laws, regulations, standards and other requirements could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.”
Philanthropy
Philanthropy is not a separate initiative at GoodRx; helping others is woven throughout everything we do. Since inception, our aim has been to help Americans get the healthcare they need at a price they can afford, and our team of medical health professionals, public health experts and passionate people ensures that we never lose sight of that goal. We are fortunate to be in a position where helping others also supports our business, which in turn allows us to help even more people in more profound ways. It is a virtuous cycle.
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We are especially focused on the massive disadvantages in care that plague communities of color in America. Across the board, minorities score worse on healthcare access and outcomes. This is simply unacceptable. We use our marketing resources, physician relationships and industry connections to make healthcare more affordable and accessible.
Throughout our history, we have provided charitable support to communities, individuals, students, clinics and non-profits in furtherance of that goal. We have sent employees to hurricane-damaged Houston to provide direct support, provided scholarships for pharmacy professionals and delivered food to low-income populations, among many other projects. We frequently provide direct financial support to individuals, families and organizations who simply need help.
In 2020, we launched GoodRx Helps, a free medication program, that expects to partner with healthcare professionals and clinics across America. This program purchases and provides more than 500 different medications to patients through nationwide clinic partnerships. In furtherance of this commitment, in December 2020, we issued 1,075,000 shares of our Class A common stock with an estimated fair value of $41.7 million to a charitable organization to fund and support our philanthropic initiatives.
Our People and Culture
Our people are essential to our success. We have a strong track record of selectivity and retention. In both 2019 and 2020, the Los Angeles Business Journal rated GoodRx as one of the Best Places to Work. We were also named as the Best Company Culture, Best Companies for Women, Best Companies for Diversity, and Best CEOs by Comparably, a workplace culture data and ratings service, in the fourth quarter of 2020.
As of December 31, 2020, GoodRx employed 478 employees, of which 450 were full-time, 23 were part-time and 5 were temporary employees. Of our total employees, 358 were based at our headquarters in Santa Monica, California. Our employees are split among the following departments and functions: 47 worked in customer service and telehealth, 291 in product development and technology, 96 in sales and marketing, and 44 in general and administrative functions.
We expect headcount growth to continue for the foreseeable future, particularly as we continue to focus on recruiting employees in technical functions to continue to bolster various functions related to our operations as a publicly traded company, as well as other functions, to support our expected growth. We pride ourselves on hiring people who not only have the skills required to perform their respective roles, but also share in the mission to help Americans get the healthcare they need at a price they can afford.
We strive to recruit, hire and retain a talented and diverse team of people. GoodRx has a strong employee referral program, which is a leading source of new hires. We focus on diversity and inclusivity in both hiring and promotion, and are working on initiatives from minority internships to reviews of our compensation practices. We prioritize providing a safe, rewarding and respectful workplace where our people are provided with opportunities to pursue career paths based on skills, performance and potential.
In managing our business, we strive to develop and implement policies and programs that support our business goals, maintain competitiveness, promote shared fiscal responsibility among the Company and our employees, strategically align talent within our organization and reward performance, while also managing the costs of such policies and programs. Our employees are supported with training and development opportunities to pursue their career paths and to ensure compliance with our policies. We adhere to our business code of conduct, which sets forth a commitment to our stakeholders, including our employees, to operate with integrity and mutual respect.
In addition to providing challenging and engaging work, we also provide robust benefits, including health insurance for employees and dependents, which include options that are fully funded by GoodRx, 401(k) match, fertility benefits, paid parental leave and discretionary vacation. We foster a tight-knit corporate culture through company events, team building offsites, weekly happy hours, game and movie nights, and pet-friendly offices. The biggest perk of all is knowing that the work performed has a meaningful impact on our consumers.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are taking necessary actions to safeguard the health of our employees. Steps we have taken include enhancing office safety measures, encouraging hygiene practices advised by health authorities, restricting non-essential business travel, and encouraging remote working for all of our employees. We continue to actively monitor risks related to COVID-19 and proper application of our safety protocol to remain aligned with federal, state, local and international laws, regulations and guidelines. We are committed to providing consistent, transparent communication to employees around safe practices, quarantine and testing protocols, vaccine availability, and timing of safely returning to office work. We believe that our business continuity plan and technology platform will continue to support the effectiveness of our employees working remotely.
Government Regulation
Data Privacy and Security Laws
The data we collect and process is an integral part of our products and services, allowing us to ensure our prices are accurate, surface the most relevant prices and reach and advertise to consumers with savings information. We collect and may use personal information to help run our business (including for analytical and marketing purposes) and to communicate and otherwise reach our consumers. In some instances, we may use third party service providers to assist us in the above.
We endeavor to treat our consumers’ data with respect and maintain consumer trust. We provide consumers options designed to allow them to control the use and disclosure of their data, such as allowing consumers to opt out of any marketing requests, opt out of the use of marketing cookies, pixels and technologies on our platform, and request deletion of their data.
Since we receive, use, transmit, disclose and store personally identifiable information, including health-related information, we are subject to numerous state and federal laws and regulations that address privacy, data protection and the collection, storing, sharing, use, transfer, disclosure and protection of certain types of data. Such regulations include the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, HIPAA, Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and, as of January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which could result in legal remedies that could materially impact our business or financial performance.
Various federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies, or self-regulatory organizations, may expand current laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations or issue revised rules or guidance regarding privacy, data protection, consumer protection, and advertising. In June 2018, California enacted the CCPA, which went into effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA creates individual privacy rights for California consumers and increases the privacy and security obligations of entities handling certain personal data. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation. The CCPA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Additionally, the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”), recently passed in California. The CPRA will impose additional data protection obligations on companies doing business in California, including additional consumer rights processes, limitations on data uses, new audit requirements for higher risk data, and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. It will also create a new California data protection agency authorized to issue substantive regulations and could result in increased privacy and information security enforcement. The majority of the provisions will go into effect on January 1, 2023, and additional compliance investment and potential business process changes may be required. Further, many similar laws have been proposed at the federal level and in other states. For instance, the state of Nevada enacted a law that went into force on October 1, 2019 and requires companies to honor consumers’ requests to no longer sell their data.
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Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, and many state attorneys general are interpreting existing federal and state consumer protection laws to impose evolving standards for the online collection, use, dissemination and security of health-related and other personal information. Courts may also adopt the standards for fair information practices promulgated by the FTC, which concern consumer notice, choice, security and access. Consumer protection laws require us to publish statements that describe how we handle personal information and choices individuals may have about the way we handle their personal information. If such information that we publish is considered untrue, we may be subject to government claims of unfair or deceptive trade practices, which could lead to significant liabilities and consequences. Furthermore, according to the FTC violating consumers’ privacy rights or failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure may constitute unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act.
In addition, HIPAA, which we believe does not currently apply to most of our business as currently operated, imposes on entities within its jurisdiction, among other things, certain standards relating to the privacy, security, transmission and breach reporting of individually identifiable health information. Entities that are found to be in violation of HIPAA as the result of a breach of unsecured protected health information, a complaint about privacy practices or an audit by HHS, may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative fines and penalties and/or additional reporting and oversight obligations if required to enter into a resolution agreement and corrective action plan with HHS to settle allegations of HIPAA non-compliance.
State Licensing Requirements
Certain states have enacted laws regulating companies that offer and market discount medical plans, including prescription drug plans, subscription membership programs or discount cards, such as our prescription offering, Gold, Kroger Savings, and any other subscription products we may develop in the future, including with respect to our telehealth business. These state laws are intended to protect consumers from fraudulent, unfair or deceptive marketing, sales and enrollment practices by such plans. It is possible that other states may enact new requirements or interpret existing requirements to include our programs. Failure to obtain the required licenses, certifications or registrations to offer and market these subscription discount programs may result in civil penalties, receipt of cease and desist orders, or a restructuring of our operations.
State Corporate Practice of Medicine and Fee Splitting Laws
With respect to our telehealth platform, GoodRx Care contracts with physician-owned professional entities to deliver our telehealth offerings to their patients in the United States. We enter into management services agreements with these physician-owned professional entities pursuant to which we provide them with billing, scheduling and a wide range of other services, and they pay us for those services. In addition, our platform enables GoodRx Care consumers to opt in to use our prescription offering and/or fill their prescriptions through a third-party mail-order pharmacy. These relationships are subject to various state laws, which are intended to prevent unlicensed persons from interfering with or influencing the physician’s professional judgment, and prohibiting the sharing of professional services income with non-professional or business interests. These laws vary from state to state and are subject to broad interpretation and enforcement by state regulators. A determination of non-compliance could lead to adverse judicial or administrative action against us and/or our providers, civil or criminal penalties, receipt of cease and desist orders from state regulators, loss of provider licenses, or a restructuring of our arrangements with our affiliated professional entities.
Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Laws
Although the consumers who use our offerings do so outside of any medication or other health benefits covered under their health insurance, including any commercial or government healthcare program, we may nonetheless be subject to a number of federal and state healthcare regulatory laws that restrict business practices in the healthcare industry. These laws include, but are not limited to, federal and state anti-kickback, false claims, and other healthcare fraud and abuse laws.
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The U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, any person or entity from knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting, receiving or providing any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, to induce or in return for purchasing, leasing, ordering, or arranging for or recommending the purchase, lease, or order of any good, facility, item or service reimbursable, in whole or in part, under Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. The majority of states also have anti-kickback laws, which establish similar prohibitions, and in some cases may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third party payor, including commercial insurers and self-pay patients.
The federal false claims, including the civil False Claims Act, prohibit, among other things, any person or entity from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim for payment to, or approval by, the federal government, knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim to the federal government, or knowingly making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the U.S. federal government. A claim includes “any request or demand” for money or property presented to the U.S. government. Actions under the civil False Claims Act may be brought by the Attorney General or as a qui tam action by a private individual in the name of the government. Moreover, a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal civil False Claims Act.
In addition, the civil monetary penalties statute, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits, among other things, the offer or transfer of remuneration, including waivers of copayments and deductible amounts (or any part thereof), to a Medicare or state healthcare program beneficiary if the person knows or should know it is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular provider, practitioner or supplier of services reimbursable by Medicare or a state healthcare program.
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 created additional federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other actions, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third party payors, knowingly and willfully embezzling or stealing from a healthcare benefit program, willfully obstructing a criminal investigation of a healthcare offense, and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation.
Violations of fraud and abuse laws, including federal and state anti-kickback and false claims laws, may be punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties, the possibility of exclusion from federal healthcare programs (including Medicare and Medicaid), disgorgement and corporate integrity agreements, which impose, among other things, rigorous operational and monitoring requirements on companies. Similar sanctions and penalties, as well as imprisonment, also can be imposed upon executive officers and employees of such companies.
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Healthcare Reform
A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry is cost containment. In the United States, there have been, and likely will continue to be, a number of federal and state legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system directed at containing or lowering the cost of healthcare, including the costs of medication. For example, in March 2010, the Affordable Care Act was enacted, which, among other things imposed mandatory discounts for certain Medicare Part D beneficiaries as a condition for manufacturers’ outpatient medication coverage under Medicare Part D; and subjected pharmaceutical manufacturers to new annual fees based on pharmaceutical manufacturers’ share of sales to federal healthcare programs. Since its enactment, there have been judicial, executive and congressional challenges to certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act, and the U.S. Supreme Court is currently reviewing the constitutionality of the ACA in its entirety, although it is unclear when or how the Supreme Court will rule.
In addition, there has been heightened governmental and regulatory scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, including legislative proposals that call for increasing pharmaceutical manufacturer competition, increasing the negotiating power of certain federal healthcare programs, capping Medicare Part D beneficiary out-of-pocket pharmacy expenses, eliminating tax deductions for drug advertising costs, and placing limits on pharmaceutical price increases. Although the likelihood of success for these and other proposals is uncertain, particularly in light of the new Biden administration, any such federal and state healthcare reform measures could impact the amounts that federal and state governments and other third-party payors will pay for healthcare products and services or require us to restructure our existing arrangements with PBMs and pharmaceutical manufacturers, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Additional Information
GoodRx Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, was incorporated in September 2015. We completed our initial public offering (“IPO”) of our Class A common stock in September 2020.
Our Internet address is www.goodrx.com. At our Investor Relations website, investors.goodrx.com, we make available free of charge a variety of information for investors, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file that material with or furnish it to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Our business involves significant risks, some of which are described below. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risk and uncertainties that we are unaware of or that we deem immaterial may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. The realization of any of these risks and uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, growth and future prospects as well as our ability to accomplish our strategic objectives. In that event, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Limited Operating History and Early Stage of Growth
Our limited operating history and our evolving business make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter.
Our limited operating history and evolving business make it difficult to evaluate and assess the success of our business to date, our future prospects and the risks and challenges that we may encounter. These risks and challenges include our ability to:
• react to challenges from existing and new competitors;
• maintain and enhance the value of our reputation and brand;
• effectively manage our growth;
• hire, integrate and retain talented people at all levels of our organization;
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If we fail to address the risks and difficulties that we face, including those associated with the challenges listed above and those described elsewhere in this Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Further, because we have limited historical financial data and our business continues to evolve and expand within the U.S. healthcare industry, any predictions about our future revenue and expenses may not be as accurate as they would be if we had a longer operating history, operated a more predictable business or operated in a less regulated industry. We have encountered in the past, and will encounter in the future, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies with limited operating histories and evolving businesses that operate in highly regulated and competitive industries. If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties, which we use to plan and operate our business, are incorrect or change, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our results of operations could differ materially from our expectations and our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
Our recent growth rates may not be sustainable or indicative of future growth and we expect our growth rate to slow.
We have experienced significant growth since our founding in 2011. Revenue increased from $249.5 million for 2018 to $388.2 million for 2019 and to $550.7 million in 2020. Our historical rate of growth may not be sustainable or indicative of our future rate of growth. We believe that our continued growth in revenue, as well as our ability to improve or maintain margins and profitability, will depend upon, among other factors, our ability to address the challenges, risks and difficulties described elsewhere in this Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and the extent to which our various offerings grow and contribute to our results of operations. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to successfully manage any such challenges or risks to our future growth. In addition, our base of consumers may not continue to grow or may decline due to a variety of possible risks, including increased competition, changes in the regulatory landscape and the maturation of our business. Any of these factors could cause our revenue growth to decline and may adversely affect our margins and profitability. Failure to continue our revenue growth or improve margins would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. You should not rely on our historical rate of revenue growth as an indication of our future performance.
Our results of operations vary and may fluctuate significantly from period-to-period.
Our quarterly and annual results of operations have historically varied from period-to-period and we expect that our results of operations will continue to do so for a variety of reasons, many of which are outside of our control and are difficult to predict. We have presented many of the factors that may cause our results of operations to fluctuate in this Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” including the extent to which our various offerings, such as our telehealth offerings, grow and contribute to our results of operations. In addition, we typically experience stronger consumer demand during the first and fourth quarters of each year, which coincide with generally higher consumer healthcare spending, doctor office visits, annual benefit enrollment season and seasonal cold and flu trends. The rapid growth of our business may have masked these trends to date, and we expect the impact of seasonality to be more pronounced in the future. The cumulative effects of such factors could result in large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual results of operations. As a result, comparing our results of operations on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful and investors should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance.
This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our revenue or results of operations fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any guidance we may provide, or if the guidance we provide is below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met any previously publicly stated guidance we may provide.
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We may be unable to manage our future growth effectively, which could make it difficult to execute our business strategy.
Since 2011, we have experienced rapid growth in our business operations and the number of consumers that use our offerings, and we may continue to experience growth in the future. For example, the number of our full-time employees increased from 137 as of December 31, 2017 to 478 as of December 31, 2020, and the number of Monthly Active Consumers has increased from 1.3 million for the first quarter of 2017 to 5.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. This growth has placed, and may continue to place, significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. Our ability to manage our growth effectively and to integrate new employees, technologies and acquisitions into our existing business will require us to continue to expand our operational and financial infrastructure and to continue to retain, attract, train, motivate and manage employees. Management of growth is particularly difficult when employees work from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continued growth could strain our ability to develop and improve our operational, financial and management controls, enhance our reporting systems and procedures, recruit, train and retain highly skilled personnel and maintain consumer satisfaction. Additionally, if we do not effectively manage the growth of our business and operations, the quality of our platform and offerings could suffer, which could negatively affect our reputation and brand, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may experience lower margins as GoodRx Care continues to grow as a portion of our overall business.
GoodRx Care (formerly known as HeyDoctor), which we launched in 2019, has experienced significant growth and we expect it to continue to grow in the future. However, the telehealth market is rapidly developing and is subject to significant price competition, and we may be unable to achieve satisfactory prices for our GoodRx Care offering or maintain prices at competitive levels. Due in part to this price competition, GoodRx Care currently generates lower margins than our other offerings. If we are unable to maintain our prices, or if our costs increase and we are unable to offset such increase with an increase in our prices, our margins could decline. In addition, as GoodRx Care continues to grow as a portion of our overall business, we expect such growth to have an adverse impact on our margins. We will continue to be subject to significant pricing pressure, and expect that GoodRx Care will continue to grow as a source of revenue, which would likely have a material adverse effect on our margins.
Risks Related to Our Business
We may be unsuccessful in achieving broad market education and changing consumer purchasing habits.
Our success and future growth largely depend on our ability to increase consumer awareness of our platform and offerings, and on the willingness of consumers to utilize our platform to access information, discounted prices for prescription medications and other healthcare products and services, including telehealth services. We believe the vast majority of consumers make purchasing decisions for healthcare products and services on the basis of traditional factors, such as insurance coverage, availability at nearby pharmacies and availability of nearby medical testing. This traditional decision-making process does not always account for restrictive and complex insurance plans, high deductibles, expensive co-pays and other factors, such as discounts or savings available at alternative pharmacies or practices. To effectively market our platform, we must educate consumers about the various purchase options and the benefits of using GoodRx codes when purchasing prescription medications and other healthcare products and services without using their health insurance benefits. We focus our marketing and education efforts on consumers, but also aim to educate and inform healthcare providers, pharmacists and other participants that interact with consumers, including at the point of purchase. However, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in changing consumer purchasing habits or that we will achieve broad market education or awareness among consumers. Even if we are able to raise awareness among consumers, they may be slow in changing their habits and may be hesitant to use our platform for a variety of reasons, including:
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If we fail to achieve broad market education of our platform and/or the options for purchasing healthcare products and services, or if we are unsuccessful in changing consumer purchasing habits, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
We may be unable to continue to attract, acquire and retain consumers, or may fail to do so in a cost-effective manner.
Our success depends in part on our ability to cost-effectively attract and acquire new consumers, retain our existing consumers and encourage our consumers to continue to utilize our platform when making purchasing decisions for prescription medications and other healthcare products and services. To expand our base of consumers, we must appeal to consumers who have historically used traditional outlets for their healthcare products and services, and who may be unaware of the possibility or benefits of using discounted prices to purchase healthcare products and services outside of insurance programs. We have made significant investments related to consumer acquisition and expect to continue to spend significant amounts to acquire additional customers. We cannot assure you that this spending will be effective or that revenue from new consumers that we acquire will ultimately exceed the cost of acquiring those consumers. If we fail to deliver reliable and significant discounted prices for prescription medications, we may be unable to acquire or retain consumers. If we are unable to acquire or retain consumers who use our platform in volumes and with recurrence sufficient to grow our business, we may be unable to maintain the scale necessary for operational efficiency and to drive beneficial and self-reinforcing network effects across the broader healthcare ecosystem, including pharmacies, PBMs, pharmaceutical manufacturers and telehealth providers. Consequently, we may not be able to present the same quality or range of solutions on our platform or otherwise, which may adversely impact consumer interest in our platform, in which case our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
We believe that our paid and non-paid marketing initiatives have been critical in promoting consumer awareness of our platform and offerings, which in turn has driven new consumer growth and increased the extent to which existing consumers have used our platform. Our paid marketing initiatives include television, search engine marketing, mail to consumers and healthcare provider offices, email, display, radio and magazine advertising and social media marketing. For example, we actively market our platform and offerings through television and we rely on direct mail to distribute marketing materials to consumers. If we are unable to cost-effectively market to consumers and drive traffic to our apps and websites, our ability to
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acquire new consumers and our financial condition would be materially and adversely affected. We also buy search advertising primarily through search engines such as Google and Bing, and use internal analytics and external vendors for bid optimization and channel strategy. Our non-paid advertising efforts include search engine optimization, non-paid social media and e-mail marketing. Search engines frequently modify their search algorithms and these changes can cause our websites to receive less favorable placements, which could reduce the number of consumers who visit our websites. The costs associated with advertising through search engines can also vary significantly from period to period, and have generally increased over time. We may be unable to modify our strategies in response to any future search algorithm changes made by the search engines, which could require a change in the strategy we use to generate consumer traffic to our websites. In addition, our websites must comply with search engine guidelines and policies, which are complex and may change at any time. If we fail to follow such guidelines and policies properly, search engines may rank our content lower in search results or could remove our content altogether from their indices. Although consumer traffic to our apps is not reliant on search results, growth in mobile device usage may not decrease our overall reliance on search results if consumers use our mobile websites rather than our apps or use search to initially find our apps. In fact, growth in mobile device usage may exacerbate the risks associated with how and where our websites are displayed in search results because mobile device screens are smaller than desktop computer screens and therefore display fewer search results.
In addition, we actively encourage new and existing consumers to use our apps to access our platform. We believe that our apps help to facilitate increased consumer retention and that consumers that access our platform through our apps are more likely to utilize GoodRx codes at the final point of purchase. While we have invested and will continue to invest in the development of our apps to improve consumer utilization, there can be no assurance that our efforts to drive adoption and use of our apps will be effective.
Our consumer education, acquisition and retention initiatives can be expensive and may be ineffective in driving consumer education or interest in our platform. Further, if new or existing consumers do not perceive that the discounted prices presented through our platform are reliable or meaningful, or if we fail to offer new and relevant offerings and application features, we may not be able to attract or retain consumers or increase the extent to which they use our platform and applications for other or future purchases. If we fail to continue to grow our base of consumers, retain existing consumers or increase consumer engagement, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
We rely significantly on our prescription offering and may not be successful in expanding our offerings within our markets, particularly the U.S. prescriptions market, or to other segments of the healthcare industry.
To date, the vast majority of our revenue has been, and we expect it to continue to substantially be, derived from our prescription offering. When a consumer uses a GoodRx code to fill a prescription and saves money compared to the list price at that pharmacy, we receive fees from our partners, primarily PBMs. Revenue from our prescription offering represented 89%, 94% and 97% of our revenue for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Substantially all of this revenue was generated from consumer transactions at brick and mortar pharmacies. In addition, we have experienced a significant increase in revenue generated by our telehealth offerings. The introduction of competing offerings with lower prices for consumers, fluctuations in prescription prices, changes in consumer purchasing habits, including an increase in the use of mail-order prescriptions, changes in the regulatory landscape, and other factors could result in changes to our contracts or a decline in our revenue, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Because we derive a vast majority of our revenue from our prescription offering, any material decline in the use of such offering or in the fees we receive from our partners in connection with such offering would have a pronounced impact on our future revenue and results of operations, particularly if we are unable to expand our offerings overall.
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We seek to expand our offerings within the prescriptions market, the pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions market and the telehealth market in the United States. For example, within the prescriptions market, we developed our subscription offerings, Gold and Kroger Savings in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Additionally, we have expanded into the pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions markets with our pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions offering. We have also expanded into the telehealth market through our acquisition and integration of GoodRx Care (formerly HeyDoctor) in 2019 and the launch of the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace, which is a marketplace designed to bring third party providers to our ecosystem so that we can provide consumers with a breadth of services in a single platform, in 2020. We are actively investing in each of these growth areas. However, expanding our offerings and entering into new markets requires substantial additional resources, and our ability to succeed is not certain. During and following periods of active investment, we may experience a decrease in profitability or margins, particularly if the area of investment generates lower margins than our other offerings. For example, GoodRx Care generates substantially lower margins than our other offerings and we expect that it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. As we expand our offerings, we will need to take additional steps, such as hiring additional personnel, partnering with new third parties and incurring considerable research and development expenses, in order to pursue such an expansion successfully. Any such expansion would be subject to additional uncertainties and would likely be subject to additional laws and regulations. As a result, we may not be successful in future efforts to expand into or achieve profitability from new markets, new business models or strategies or new offering types, and our ability to generate revenue from our current offerings and continue our existing business may be negatively affected. If any such expansion does not enhance our ability to maintain or grow revenue or recover any associated development costs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our business is subject to changes in medication pricing and is significantly impacted by pricing structures negotiated by industry participants.
Our platform aggregates and analyzes pricing data from a number of different sources. The discounted prices that we present through our platform are based in large part upon pricing structures negotiated by industry participants. We do not control the pricing strategies of pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesalers, PBMs and pharmacies, each of which is motivated by independent considerations and drivers that are outside our control and has the ability to set or significantly impact market prices for different prescription medications. While we have contractual and non-contractual relationships with certain industry participants, such as pharmacies, PBMs and pharmaceutical manufacturers, these and other industry participants often negotiate complex and multi-party pricing structures, and we have no control over these participants and the policies and strategies that they implement in negotiating these pricing structures.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers generally direct medication pricing by setting medication list prices and offering rebates and discounts for their medications. List prices are impacted by, among other things, market considerations such as the number of competitor medications and availability of alternative treatment options. Wholesalers can impact medication pricing by purchasing medications in bulk from pharmaceutical manufacturers and then reselling such medications to pharmacies. PBMs generally impact medication pricing through their bargaining power, negotiated rebates with pharmaceutical manufacturers and contracts with different pharmacy providers and health insurance companies. PBMs work with pharmacies to determine the negotiated rate that will be paid at the pharmacy by consumers. Medication pricing is also impacted by health insurance companies and the extent to which a health insurance plan provides for, among other things, covered medications, preferred tiers for different medications and high or low deductibles. A vast majority of the utilization of our platform relates to generic medications.
Our ability to present discounted prices through our platform, the value of any such discounts and our ability to generate revenue are directly affected by the pricing structures in place amongst these industry participants, and changes in medication pricing and in the general pricing structures that are in place could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, changes in the negotiated rates of the PBMs on our platform at pharmacies could negatively impact the prices that we present through our platform, and changes in insurance plan coverage for specific medications could reduce demand for and/or our ability to offer competitive discounts for certain medications, any of which
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could have an adverse effect on our ability to generate revenue and business. In addition, changes in the fee and pricing structures among industry participants, whether due to regulatory requirements, competitive pressures or otherwise, that reduce or adversely impact fees generated by PBMs would have an adverse effect on our ability to generate revenue and business. Due in part to existing pricing structures, we generate a small portion of our revenue through contracts with pharmaceutical manufacturers and other intermediaries. Changes in the roles of industry participants and in general pricing structures, as well as price competition among industry participants, could have an adverse impact on our business. For example, integration of PBMs and pharmacy providers could result in pricing structures whereby such entities would have greater pricing power and flexibility or industry players could implement direct to consumer initiatives that could significantly alter existing pricing structures, either of which would have an adverse impact on our ability to present competitive and low prices to consumers and, as a result, the value of our platform for consumers and our results of operations.
We generally do not control the categories and types of prescriptions for which we can offer savings or discounted prices.
The categories and brands of medications for which we can present discounted prices are largely determined by PBMs. PBMs work with insurance companies, employers and other organizations and enter into contracts with pharmacies to determine negotiated rates. They also negotiate rebates with pharmaceutical manufacturers. The terms that different PBMs negotiate with each pharmacy are generally different and result in different negotiated rates available via each PBM’s network, all of which is outside our control. Different PBMs prioritize and allocate discounts across different medications, and continuously update these allocations in accordance with their internal strategies and expectations. As we have agreements with PBMs to market their negotiated rates through our platform, our ability to present discounted prices is dependent upon the arrangements that PBMs have negotiated with pharmacies and upon the resulting availability and allocation of discounts for medications subject to these arrangements. In general, industry participants are less likely to allocate or provide for discounts or rebates on brand medications that are covered by patents. As a result, the discounted prices that we are able to present for brand medications may not be as competitive as for generic medications. Similar to the total prescription volume in the United States, the vast majority of the utilization of our platform relates to generic medications.
Changes in the categories and types of medications for which we can present pricing through our platform could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, demand for our offerings and the use and utility of our platform is impacted by the value of the discounts that we are able to present and the extent to which there is inconsistency in the price of a particular prescription across the market. If pharmacies, PBMs or others do not allocate or otherwise facilitate adequate discounts for these medications, or if there is significant price similarity or competition across PBMs and pharmacies, the perceived value of our platform and the demand for our offerings would decrease and there would be a significant impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on a limited number of industry participants.
There is currently significant concentration in the U.S. healthcare industry, and in particular there are a limited number of PBMs, including pharmacies’ in-house PBMs, and a limited number of national pharmacy chains. If we are unable to retain favorable contractual arrangements with our PBMs, including any successor PBMs should there be further consolidation of PBMs, we may lose them as customers, or the negotiated rates provided by such PBMs may become less competitive, which could have an adverse impact on the discounted prices we present through our platform.
A limited number of PBMs generate a significant percentage of the discounted prices that we present through our platform and, as a result, we generate a significant portion of our revenue from contracts with a limited number of PBMs. We work with more than a dozen PBMs that maintain cash networks and prices, and the number of PBMs we work with has significantly increased over time, limiting the extent to which any one PBM contributes to our overall revenue; however, we may not expand beyond our existing PBM partners and the number of our PBM partners may even decline. Our three largestPBM partners accounted
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for 61% of our revenue in 2018, 55% of our revenue in 2019 and 42% of our revenue in 2020. Revenue from each PBM fluctuates from period to period as the discounts and prices available through our platform change, and different PBMs experience increases and decreases in the volume of transactions processed through their respective networks. In 2018, Optum, Navitus and MedImpact each accounted for more than 10% of revenue. In 2019, Navitus and MedImpact each accounted for more than 10% of revenue, and in the year ended December 31, 2020, Navitus, MedImpact and Express Scripts each accounted for more than 10% of revenue. The loss of any of these large PBMs may negatively impact the breadth of the pricing that we are able to offer consumers.
Most of our PBM contracts provide for monthly payments from PBMs, including our contracts with MedImpact, Navitus, Express Scripts and Optum. Our PBM contracts generally can be divided into two categories: PBM contracts featuring a percentage of fee arrangement, where fees are a percentage of the fees that PBMs charge to pharmacies, and PBM contracts featuring a fixed fee per transaction arrangement. Our percentage of fee contracts often also include a minimum fixed fee per transaction. The majority of our PBM contracts, including our contracts with MedImpact and Navitus, are percentage of fee contracts, and a minority of our contracts, including our PBM contract with Express Scripts and Optum, provide for fixed fee per transaction arrangements. Our PBM contracts generally, including our contracts with MedImpact, Navitus, Express Scripts and Optum, have a tiered fee structure based on volume generated in the applicable payment period. Our PBM contracts, including our contracts with MedImpact, Navitus, Express Scripts and Optum, do not contain minimum volume requirements, and thus do not provide for any assurance as to minimum payments to us. Our PBM contracts generally renew automatically, including our contracts with MedImpact, Navitus and Optum. In addition, our PBM contracts generally provide for continuing payments to us after such contracts are terminated, including our contracts with MedImpact, Navitus, Express Scripts and Optum. Some of our PBM contracts provide for these continuing payments for so long as negotiated rates related to the applicable PBM contract continue to be used after termination, and other contracts provide for these continuing payments for specified multi-year payment periods after termination. Our contracts with MedImpact, Navitus, Express Scripts and Optum provide for periods of five years, three years, five years and three years, respectively, during which payments will be made as negotiated rates related to the applicable PBM contract continue to be used. Between contract renewals, our contracts generally provide for limited termination rights and do not provide for termination for convenience.
In addition, our PBM contracts typically include provisions that prevent PBMs from circumventing our platform, redirecting volumes outside of our platform and other protective measures. For example, our PBM contracts, including our contracts with MedImpact, Navitus, Express Scripts and Optum, contain provisions that limit PBM use of our intellectual property related to our brand and platform and require PBMs to maintain the confidentiality of our data. While we have consistently renewed and extended the term of our contracts with PBMs over time, there can be no assurance that PBMs will enter into future contracts or renew existing contracts with us, or that any future contracts they enter into will be on equally favorable terms. Changes that limit or otherwise negatively impact our ability to receive fees from these partners would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Consolidation of PBMs or the loss of a PBM could negatively impact the discounts and prices that we present through our platform and may result in less competitive discounts and prices on our platform.
Our consumers use GoodRx codes at the point of purchase at nearby pharmacies. These codes can be used at over 70,000 pharmacies in the United States. The U.S. prescriptions market is dominated by a limited number of national and regional pharmacy chains, such as CVS, Kroger, Walmart and Walgreens. These pharmacy chains represent a significant portion of overall prescription medication transactions in the United States. Similarly, a significant portion of our discounted prices are used at a limited number of pharmacy chains and, as a result, a significant portion of our revenue is derived from transactions processed at a limited number of pharmacy chains.
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We do not generate a significant percentage of revenue from mail-order prescriptions or mail-order pharmacies. If one or more of these pharmacy chains terminates its cash network contracts with PBMs that we work with or enters into cash network contracts with PBMs that we work with at less competitive rates, our business may be negatively affected. This could be exacerbated by further consolidation of PBMs or pharmacy chains. If such changes, individually or in the aggregate, are material, they would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. If there is a decline in revenue generated from any of the PBMs we contract with, as a result of consolidation of PBMs or pharmacy chains, pricing competition among industry participants or otherwise, if we are unable to maintain or grow our relationships with PBMs or if we lose one or more of the PBMs we contract with and cannot replace the PBM in a timely manner or at all, there would be an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We operate in a very competitive industry and we may fail to effectively differentiate our offerings and services from those of our competitors, which could impair our ability to attract and acquire new consumers and retain existing consumers.
The U.S. prescriptions market, pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions market and telehealth market are highly competitive and subject to ongoing innovation and development. Our ability to remain competitive is dependent upon our ability to appeal to consumers and attract and acquire new consumers to our platform, including through our apps. Our ability to remain competitive is also dependent upon our ability to retain existing consumers and encourage them to continue to use our platform as a tool for purchasing healthcare products and services. We operate in a highly competitive environment and in an industry that is subject to significant market pressures brought about by consumer demands, a limited number of major PBMs, fluctuations in medication pricing, legislative and regulatory activity, significant changes in demand and interest in telehealth and other market factors.
We compete with companies that provide savings on prescriptions, as well as companies that offer telehealth services and advertising and market access for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Within the prescriptions discounts and price comparison market, our competition is fragmented and consists of competitors that are smaller than us in scale. There can be no assurance that competitors will not develop and market similar offerings to ours, or that industry participants, such as integrated PBMs and pharmacy providers, will not seek to leverage our platform to drive consumer demand and traffic to their networks and eventually away from, or outside of, our platform. We may face increased competition from those that attempt to replicate our business model or marketing tactics, such as discount websites, apps, cash back and loyalty programs and new comparison shopping sites from various industry participants, any of which could impact our ability to attract and retain consumers. We also face competition in the telehealth market from a range of companies, including providers of telehealth services that are larger than us, and which usually provide telehealth services on behalf of employers and insurance plans, such as Teladoc, Amwell, MDLIVE, and Doctor on Demand. Our pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions offering competes for advertising and market access budget allocation against traditional direct to consumer and other platforms on which pharmaceuticals manufacturers can reach consumers, such as through physicians, health-related apps and websites, television advertisements and services supporting patient access. A competitor’s offerings, reputation and marketing strategies can have a substantial impact on its ability to attract and retain consumers, and we may face competition from existing or new market entrants with greater resources and better offerings, reputations and market strategies, which would have a negative impact on our business. Any such competitor may be better able to respond quickly to new technologies, develop deeper relationships with consumers and industry participants, including pharmacies, PBMs and telehealth providers, or offer more competitive discounts or pricing. While we negotiate protective terms related to our discounted prices, our intellectual property and our consumers with PBMs, our contacts with these parties are not exclusive and PBMs work with others in the industry to drive volume to their networks. For example, our contracts include provisions that, among others, restrict the ability of PBMs to compete with us and solicit our consumers. We aim to differentiate our business through scale and by innovating and delivering offerings and services, including medical care and advice through our telehealth offerings, that demonstrate value to consumers and to our existing consumers, particularly in response to frequent changes in medication pricing and the cost of medical care. Our failure to innovate and deliver offerings and services that demonstrate value, or to market such offerings and services effectively, may affect our ability to acquire or retain consumers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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We may also face competition from companies that we do not yet know about. If existing or new companies develop or market an offering similar to ours, develop an entirely new solution for access to affordable healthcare, acquire one of our existing competitors or form a strategic alliance with one of our competitors or other industry participants, our ability to compete effectively could be significantly impacted, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
A pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease in the United States, including the outbreak of COVID-19, could impact our business.
Global health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic have been weighing on the macroeconomic environment, and the pandemic has significantly increased economic uncertainty. GoodRx is closely monitoring how the spread of COVID-19 is affecting its employees, customers and business operations. The outbreak has resulted in authorities implementing numerous measures to try to contain the virus, such as travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, and business shutdowns. In particular for our business, governmental authorities have also recommended, and in certain cases, required, that elective or other medical appointments be suspended or cancelled to avoid non-essential patient exposure to medical environments and potential infection. These and other measures have not only negatively impacted consumer spending and business spending habits, they have adversely impacted and may further impact our workforce and operations and the operations of healthcare professionals, pharmacies, consumers, PBMs and others in the broader healthcare ecosystem. Although certain of these measures have eased in some geographic regions, overall measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic may remain in place for a significant period of time, and certain geographic regions are experiencing resurgences of COVID-19 infections. The duration and severity of this pandemic is unknown and the extent of the business disruption and financial impact depend on factors beyond our knowledge and control.
Given the uncertainty around the duration and extent of the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect it to continue to impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity, but cannot accurately predict at this time the future potential impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. Various government measures, community self-isolation practices and shelter-in-place requirements, as well as the perceived need by individuals to continue such practices to avoid infection, have generally reduced the extent to which consumers visit healthcare professionals in-person, seek treatment for certain conditions or ailments, and receive and fill new prescriptions. Consumers may also increasingly elect to receive prescriptions by mail order instead of at the pharmacy, which could have an adverse impact on our prescription offering. In addition, many pharmacies and healthcare providers have reduced staffing, closed locations or otherwise limited operations, and many prescribing healthcare professionals have reduced or postponed treatment of certain patients. The number of Monthly Active Consumers and our prescription offering were adversely impacted principally in the second quarter of 2020 by consumers’ decisions to avoid visiting healthcare professionals and pharmacies in-person, which we believe has had a similar effect across the industry. Even though we saw improved activity in our prescription offering in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, we believe COVID-19 continues to have an adverse impact on our prescription offerings and continued improvement in future periods remains uncertain. Any decrease in the number of consumers seeking to fill prescriptions could negatively impact demand for and use of certain of our offerings, particularly our prescription offering, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Conversely, pandemics, epidemics and outbreaks may significantly and temporarily increase demand for our telehealth offerings. COVID-19 has significantly accelerated the awareness and use of our telehealth offerings, including demand for our GoodRx Care offering and the utilization of our GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace. While we have experienced a significant increase in demand for the telehealth offerings, there can be no assurance that the levels of interest, demand and use of our telehealth offerings will continue at current levels or will not decrease during or after the pandemic. Any such decrease could have an adverse effect on our growth and the success of our telehealth offerings.
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The spread of COVID-19 has also caused us to modify our business practices (including employee travel, employee work locations, and the cancellation of physical participation in meetings, events and conferences), and we may take further actions as may be required by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, consumers and partners. For example, we have implemented work-from-home measures, which have required us to provide technical support to our employees to enable them to connect to our systems from their homes. In addition, COVID-19 and the determination of appropriate measures and business practices has diverted management’s time and attention. If our employees are not able to effectively work from home, or if our employees contract COVID-19 or another contagious disease due to their return to work or otherwise, we may experience a decrease in productivity and operational efficiency, which would negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. There is also no certainty that the measures we have taken to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our business will be sufficient or otherwise be satisfactory to government authorities. Further, because most of our employees are working remotely in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, we may experience an increased risk of security breaches, loss of data, and other disruptions as a result of accessing sensitive information from remote locations.
While the potential economic impact brought by and the duration of any pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease, including COVID-19, may be difficult to assess or predict, the widespread COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant disruption of global financial markets, reducing our ability to access capital, which could in the future negatively affect our liquidity.
The full extent to which the outbreak of COVID-19 will impact our business, results of operations and financial condition is still unknown and will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including, but not limited to, the duration and spread of the pandemic, its severity, the actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, the effectiveness and availability of vaccines and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may experience materially adverse impacts to our business as a result of its global economic impact, including any recession that has occurred or may occur in the future.
To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business, financial condition and results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
Our estimated addressable market is subject to inherent challenges and uncertainties. If we have overestimated the size of our addressable market or the various markets in which we operate, our future growth opportunities may be limited.
Our TAM is based on internal estimates and third-party estimates regarding the size of each of the U.S. prescriptions market, pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions market and telehealth market, and is subject to significant uncertainty and is based on assumptions that may not prove to be accurate. In particular, we calculated the TAM for our prescription opportunity based on data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) regarding the expected size of the U.S. prescription market in 2020, plus our estimated value of prescriptions that are written but not filled. This estimate is based on third-party reports and is subject to significant assumptions and estimates. Additionally, we calculated the TAM for our pharmaceutical manufacturer solutions opportunity based on data published in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association regarding the amount of advertising and marketing spending by U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers in 2016. We calculated the TAM for our telehealth opportunity based on a report by McKinsey & Company regarding the extent to which amounts spent on outpatient office and home health visits in 2020 can be addressed via telehealth offerings. These estimates, as well as the estimates and forecasts elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K relating to the size and expected growth of the markets in which we operate, may change or prove to be inaccurate. While we believe the information on which we base our TAM is generally reliable, such information is inherently imprecise. In addition, our expectations, assumptions and estimates of future opportunities are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described herein. If third-party or internally generated data prove to be inaccurate or we make errors in our assumptions based on that data, our future growth opportunities may be affected. Additionally, our TAM for our prescription offering includes medications for which we are currently not able to offer savings on the prices paid by non-insured and insured consumers and for which we may not be able to provide savings on in the future. If our TAM, or the size of any of the various markets in which we operate, proves to be inaccurate, our future growth opportunities may be limited and there could be a material adverse effect on our prospects, business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We calculate certain operational metrics using internal systems and tools and do not independently verify such metrics. Certain metrics are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and real or perceived inaccuracies in such metrics may harm our reputation and negatively affect our business.
We present certain operational metrics in our SEC filings, including Monthly Active Consumers, Monthly Visitors, GMV, savings and other metrics. We calculate these metrics using internal systems and tools that are not independently verified by any third party. These metrics may differ from estimates or similar metrics published by third parties or other companies due to differences in sources, methodologies or the assumptions on which we rely. Our internal systems and tools have a number of limitations, and our methodologies for tracking these metrics may change over time, which could result in unexpected changes to our metrics, including the metrics we publicly disclose on an ongoing basis. If the internal systems and tools we use to track these metrics undercount or overcount performance or contain algorithmic or other technical errors, the data we present may not be accurate. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates of our metrics for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring savings, the use of our platform and offerings and other metrics. For example, we believe that there are consumers who access our offerings through multiple accounts or channels, and that there are groups of consumers, such as families, who access our offerings through single accounts or channels, both of which impact our number of Monthly Visitors, as each channel is counted independently. In addition, limitations or errors with respect to how we measure data or with respect to the data that we measure may affect our understanding of certain details of our business, which would affect our long-term strategies. If our operating metrics or our estimates are not accurate representations of our business, or if investors do not perceive our operating metrics to be accurate, or if we discover material inaccuracies with respect to these figures, our reputation may be significantly harmed, and our operating and financial results could be adversely affected.
The telehealth market is immature and volatile, and if it does not develop, or if it develops more slowly than we expect, the growth of our business will be harmed.
The telehealth market is relatively new and unproven, and it is uncertain whether it will achieve and sustain high levels of demand, consumer acceptance and market adoption. The success of our telehealth offerings will depend to a substantial extent on the willingness of our consumers to use, and to increase the frequency and extent of their utilization of, our platform, as well as on our ability to demonstrate the value of telehealth to employers, health plans, government agencies and other purchasers of healthcare for beneficiaries. Furthermore, the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace will require marketplace participants to offer their services and for consumers to purchase such services if it is to be successful. If any of these events do not occur or do not occur quickly, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our telehealth offerings depend in part on our ability to maintain and expand a network of skilled telehealth providers.
The success of our telehealth offerings, including GoodRx Care and the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace, depends in part on our continued ability to maintain a network of skilled and qualified telehealth providers. With respect to the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace in particular, we are dependent on third-party entities, which we do not own or control, to provide healthcare services to consumers. There is significant competition in the telehealth market for qualified telehealth providers, and if we are unable to recruit or retain physicians and other healthcare professionals and service providers, it would negatively impact the growth of our telehealth offerings and would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Negative media coverage could adversely affect our business.
We receive a high degree of media coverage in the United States. Unfavorable publicity regarding, for example, the healthcare industry, litigation or regulatory activity, the actions of the entities included or otherwise involved in our platform, negative perceptions of prescriptions included on our platform, medication pricing, pricing structures in place amongst the industry participants, our data privacy or data security practices, our platform or our revenue could materially adversely affect our reputation. Such negative publicity also could have an adverse effect on our ability to attract and retain consumers, partners, or employees, and result in decreased revenue, which would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We may be unable to successfully respond to changes in the market for prescription pricing, and may fail to maintain and expand the use of GoodRx codes through our apps and websites.
In recent years, we believe that consumer preferences and access to prescription medication discounts has increasingly shifted from traditional offline or analog channels, such as newspapers and by direct mail, to digital or electronic channels, such as apps, websites and by email. It is difficult to predict whether the pace of the transition from traditional to digital channels will continue at the same rate and whether the growth of the digital channel will continue. While we actively promote the use of our apps and websites, if the demand for digital channels does not continue to grow as we expect, or if we fail to successfully address this demand through our platforms, our business could be harmed. Consumer access and preferences for purchasing medications may evolve in ways which may be difficult to predict. Further, if PBMs or pharmacy chains elect to directly distribute pricing information through their own digital channels, or if new or existing competitors are faster or better at addressing consumer demand and preferences for digital channels, or are able to offer more accessible discounted prices to consumers, our ability and success in presenting discounted prices on our platform may be impeded and our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected. If we cannot maintain a sufficient offering of discounted prices on our platform, new consumers and existing consumers may perceive our platform as less relevant, consumer traffic to our platform could decline and, as a result, new consumers and existing consumers may decrease their use of our platform or subscription offerings, which would affect our contracts with certain partners included or otherwise involved in our platform and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be unable to maintain a positive perception regarding our platform or maintain and enhance our brand.
A decrease in the quality or perceived quality of the discounted prices available through our platform, or of our telehealth offerings, including GoodRx Care and the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace, could harm our reputation and damage our ability to attract and retain consumers and partners included or otherwise involved in our platform, which could adversely affect our business. Many factors that impact the perception of our offerings are beyond our control. For example, the success and perception of the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace depends in part on the number, availability, and quality of service delivered by the telehealth providers included on the marketplace. While we can control which providers we include on the GoodRx Telehealth Marketplace, there can be no assurance that all such providers will consistently deliver the quality of service necessary to fulfill consumer expectations, and any negative experiences could have an adverse impact on our brand and reputation, which could impact consumer demand for our telehealth offerings and the extent to which providers seek to be included on or associated with the marketplace.
Maintaining and enhancing our GoodRx brand and the branding and image of our various offerings, such as GoodRx Care, is critical to our business and our ability to attract new and existing consumers to our platform. We expect that the promotion of our brand will require us to make substantial investments and as our market becomes more competitive, these branding initiatives may become increasingly difficult and expensive. The successful promotion of our brand will depend largely on our marketing and public relations efforts. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our brand, we could lose consumer traffic, which could, in turn, cause PBMs and others to terminate or reduce the extent of their relationship with us. Our brand promotion activities may not be successful or may not yield net revenues sufficient to offset this cost, which could adversely affect our reputation and business.
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We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and may identify material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls in the future, as a result of which, we may not be able to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock.
As a public company, we are required to comply with the requirements of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). Under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we will be required to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of a company’s annual and interim financial statements will not be detected or prevented on a timely basis.
In connection with the preparation of our financial statements for 2019, we identified certain control deficiencies in the design and operation of our internal control over financial reporting that constituted material weaknesses. The material weaknesses are:
These material weaknesses contributed to the following additional material weaknesses:
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These material weaknesses resulted in adjustments identified by our independent registered public accounting firm and recorded by us primarily related to goodwill, capitalized software, leases, debt extinguishment, revenue recognition and sales allowances. These material weaknesses could result in a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement to the annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected.
Our management and independent registered public accounting firm did not perform an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting during any period in accordance with the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Had we performed an evaluation and had our independent registered public accounting firm performed an audit of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, additional material weaknesses may have been identified. We are in the very early stages of the costly and challenging process of compiling the system and processing documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404(a) of Sarbanes-Oxley Act and we are taking steps to remediate the material weaknesses. Management, with the participation of the audit committee and the board of directors, is engaged in remedial activities to address the material weaknesses described above as described in Part II, Item 9A, “Controls and Procedures”.
While we believe these efforts will remediate the material weaknesses, we may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing or any required remediation in a timely fashion. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date and actions we may take in the future, will be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to our material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or that they will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses. Any failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations.
If we fail to remediate these material weaknesses or identify new material weaknesses by the time we have to issue our first Section 404(a) assessment on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we will not be able to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, which may cause investors to lose confidence in our financial statements, and the trading price of our Class A common stock may decline. If we fail to remedy any material weakness, our financial statements may be inaccurate, our access to the capital markets may be restricted and the trading price of our Class A common stock may suffer.
Use of social media, emails and text messages may adversely impact our reputation, subject us to fines or other penalties or be an ineffective source to market our offerings.
We use social media, emails and text messages as part of our omnichannel approach to marketing and consumer outreach. Changes to these social networking services’ terms of use or terms of service that limit promotional communications, restrictions that would limit our ability or our consumers’ ability to send communications through their services, disruptions or downtime experienced by these social networking services or reductions in the use of or engagement with social networking services by consumers and potential consumers could also harm our business. As laws and regulations rapidly evolve to govern the use of these channels, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations in the use of these channels could adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties. In addition, our employees or third parties acting at our direction may knowingly or inadvertently make use of social media in ways that could lead to the loss or infringement of intellectual property, as well as the public disclosure of proprietary, confidential or sensitive personal information of our business, employees, consumers or others. Any such inappropriate use of social media, emails and text messages could also cause reputational damage and adversely affect our business.
Our consumers may engage with us online through our social media pages, including, for example, our presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, by providing feedback and public commentary about all aspects of our business. Information concerning us or our offerings and brands, whether accurate or not, may be posted on social media pages at any time and may have a disproportionately adverse impact on our brand, reputation or business. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Additionally, we use emails and text messages to communicate with consumers and we collect consumer data, including email addresses and phone numbers, to further our marketing efforts with such consenting consumers. If we fail to adequately or accurately collect such data or if our data collection systems are breached, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed. Further, any failure, or perceived failure, by us, or any third parties processing such data, to comply with privacy policies or with any federal or state privacy or consumer protection-related laws, regulations, industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, regulatory guidance, orders to which we may be subject or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection would adversely affect our reputation, brand and business, and may result in claims, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, consumers, suppliers or others or other liabilities or may require us to change our operations and/or cease using certain data sets.
We may be unable to accurately forecast revenue and appropriately plan our expenses in the future.
We base our current and future expense levels on our operating forecasts and estimates of future income. Income and results of operations are difficult to forecast because they generally depend on the number and timing of our consumers using our platform, signing up for a subscription or using the services provided by our telehealth platform, which are uncertain. Additionally, our business is affected by general economic and business conditions around the world, including the impact of COVID-19. A softening in income, whether caused by changes in consumer preferences or a weakening in global economies, may result in decreased revenue levels, and we may be unable to adjust our spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected shortfall in income. This inability could result in lower net income or greater net loss in a given quarter than expected.
We rely on information technology to operate our business and maintain competitiveness, and must adapt to technological developments or industry trends.
Our ability to attract new consumers and increase revenue from our existing consumers depends in large part on our ability to enhance and improve our existing offerings, increase adoption and usage of our offerings, and introduce new features and capabilities. The markets in which we compete are relatively new and subject to rapid technological change, evolving industry standards, and changing regulations, as well as changing consumer needs, requirements and preferences. The success of our business will depend, in part, on our ability to adapt and respond effectively to these changes on a timely basis.
We depend on the use of information technologies and systems. As our operations grow, we must continuously improve and upgrade our systems and infrastructure while maintaining or improving the reliability and integrity of our infrastructure. Our future success also depends on our ability to adapt our systems and infrastructure to meet rapidly evolving consumer trends and demands while continuing to improve the performance, features and reliability of our solutions in response to competitive services and offerings. The emergence of alternative platforms such as smartphones and tablets and the emergence of niche competitors who may be able to optimize offerings, services or strategies for such platforms will require new investment in technology. New developments in other areas, such as cloud computing, have made it easier for competition to enter our markets due to lower up-front technology costs. In addition, we may not be able to maintain our existing systems or replace or introduce new technologies and systems as quickly as we would like or in a cost-effective manner. There is also no guarantee that we will possess the financial resources or personnel, for the research, design and development of new applications or services, or that we will be able to utilize these resources successfully and avoid technological or market obsolescence. Further, there can be no assurance that technological advances by one or more of our competitors or future competitors will not result in our present or future applications and services becoming uncompetitive or obsolete. If we were unable to enhance our offerings and platform capabilities to keep pace with rapid technological and regulatory change, or if new technologies emerge that are able to deliver competitive offerings at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently or more securely than our offerings, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
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We depend on our information technology systems, and those of our third-party vendors, contractors and consultants, and any failure or significant disruptions of these systems, security breaches or loss of data could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We collect and maintain information in digital form that is necessary to conduct our business, and we are increasingly dependent on information technology systems and infrastructure (“IT Systems”) to operate our business. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, store and transmit large amounts of confidential information, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information. It is critical that we do so in a secure manner to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of such confidential information. We have established physical, electronic and organizational measures to safeguard and secure our systems to prevent a data compromise, and rely on commercially available systems, software, tools, and monitoring to provide security for our IT Systems and the processing, transmission and storage of digital information. We have also outsourced elements of our IT Systems and data storage systems, and as a result a number of third-party vendors may or could have access to our confidential information.
Despite the implementation of preventative and detective security controls, such IT Systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from a variety of sources, including telecommunications or network failures or interruptions, system malfunction, natural disasters, malicious human acts, terrorism and war. Such IT Systems, including our servers, are additionally vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, third-party service providers, contractors, consultants, business partners, and/or other third parties, or from cyber-attacks by malicious third parties (including the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering, and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information). As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may face increased cybersecurity risks due to our reliance on internet technology and the number of our employees who are working remotely, which may create additional opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities. We may not be able to anticipate all types of security threats, and we may not be able to implement preventive measures effective against all such security threats. The techniques used by cyber criminals change frequently, may not be recognized until launched, and can originate from a wide variety of sources, including outside groups such as external service providers, organized crime affiliates, terrorist organizations, or hostile foreign governments or agencies.
In addition, the prevalent use of mobile devices that access confidential information increases the risk of data security breaches, which could lead to the loss of confidential information or other intellectual property. We can provide no assurance that our current IT Systems, or those of the third parties upon which we rely, are fully protected against cybersecurity threats. It is possible that we or our third-party vendors may experience cybersecurity and other breach incidents that remain undetected for an extended period. Even when a security breach is detected, the full extent of the breach may not be determined immediately. The costs to us to mitigate network security problems, bugs, viruses, worms, malicious software programs and security vulnerabilities could be significant, and while we have implemented security measures to protect our data security and IT Systems, our efforts to address these problems may not be successful, and these problems could result in unexpected interruptions, delays, cessation of service and other harm to our business and our competitive position. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our offerings to consumers. Moreover, we and our third-party vendors collect, store and transmit sensitive data, including health-related information, personally identifiable information, intellectual property and proprietary business information in the ordinary course of our business. If a computer security breach affects our systems or results in the unauthorized release of personally identifiable information, our reputation could be materially damaged. In addition, such a breach may require notification to governmental agencies, the media or individuals pursuant to various federal and state privacy and security laws, if applicable, including the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) as well as regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and state breach notification laws. We would also be exposed to a risk of loss or litigation and potential liability, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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If our or our third-party vendors’ security measures fail or are breached, it could result in unauthorized access to confidential and proprietary business information, intellectual property, sensitive consumer data (including health-related information) or other personally identifiable information of our consumers, employees, partners or contractors, a loss of or damage to our data, or an inability to access data sources, process data or provide our services. Such failures or breaches of our or our third-party vendors’ security measures, or our or our third-party vendors’ inability to effectively resolve such failures or breaches in a timely manner, could severely damage our reputation, adversely impact consumer, partner, or investor confidence in us, and reduce the demand for our solutions and services. In addition, we could face litigation, significant damages for contract breach or other breaches of law, significant monetary penalties, or regulatory actions for violation of applicable laws or regulations, and incur significant costs for remedial measures to prevent future occurrences and mitigate past violations. The costs related to significant security breaches or disruptions could be material and exceed the limits of the cybersecurity insurance we maintain against such risks. If the IT Systems of our third-party vendors become subject to disruptions or security breaches, we may have insufficient recourse against such third parties and we may have to expend significant resources to mitigate the impact of such an event, and to develop and implement protections to prevent future events of this nature from occurring. Any disruption or loss to IT Systems on which critical aspects of our operations depend could have an adverse effect on our business.
Government regulation of the internet and e-commerce is evolving, and unfavorable changes or failure by us to comply with these laws and regulations could substantially harm our business and results of operations.
We are subject to general business regulations and laws specifically governing the internet and e-commerce. Furthermore, the regulatory landscape impacting these areas is constantly evolving. Existing and future regulations and laws could impede the growth of the internet, e-commerce or other online services. These regulations and laws may involve taxation, tariffs, privacy and data security, anti-spam, data protection, content, copyrights, distribution, electronic contracts, electronic communications, money laundering, electronic payments and consumer protection. It is not clear how existing laws and regulations governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes, libel and personal privacy apply to the internet as the vast majority of these laws and regulations were adopted prior to the advent of the internet and do not contemplate or address the unique issues raised by the internet or e-commerce. It is possible that general business regulations and laws, or those specifically governing the internet or e-commerce may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices.
We cannot assure you that our practices have complied, comply or will in the future comply with all such laws and regulations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any of these laws or regulations could result in damage to our reputation, a loss in business, and proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others. For example, recent automatic renewal laws, which require companies to adhere to enhanced disclosure requirements when entering into automatically renewing contracts with consumers, resulted in class action lawsuits against companies that offer online products and services on a subscription or recurring basis. These and similar proceedings or actions could hurt our reputation, force us to spend significant resources in defense of these proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, and cause consumers and paid merchants to decrease their use of our platform, and may result in the imposition of monetary liability. We may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with any such laws or regulations. In addition, it is possible that governments of one or more countries may seek to censor content available on our apps and websites or may even attempt to completely block access to our platform. Adverse legal or regulatory developments could substantially harm our business.
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Our business relies on email, mail and other messaging channels and any technical, legal or other restrictions on the sending of such correspondence or a decrease in consumer willingness to receive such correspondence could adversely affect our business.
Our business depends in part upon the emailing and mailing of promotional materials, cards with GoodRx codes and other information to consumers and healthcare providers, and is also significantly dependent on email and other messaging channels, such as text messages. We distribute pricing information and other promotional materials in the mail, and also provide emails, mobile alerts and other messages to consumers informing them of the discounted prices available on our apps and websites. These communications help generate a significant portion of our revenues. Because email, mail and other messaging channels are important to our business, if we are unable to successfully deliver messages to consumers through these channels, if there are legal restrictions on delivering such messages to consumers, if consumers do not or cannot open or otherwise utilize our messages or if consumers reject the receipt of communications referencing particular prescriptions or conditions, our revenues and profitability would be adversely affected.
Actions taken by third parties that block, impose restrictions on or charge for the delivery of these communications could also harm our business. For example, from time to time, internet service providers or other third parties may block bulk communications or otherwise experience difficulties that result in our inability to successfully deliver communications to consumers. In addition, our use of mail, email and other messaging channels to send communications about our platform or other matters, including health related topics referencing particular prescriptions or conditions, may result in legal claims against us, which if successful might limit or prohibit our ability to send such communications.
We rely on a single third-party service provider for the delivery of substantially all of our mailing communications and rely on third-party service providers for delivery of emails, text messages and other forms of electronic communication. If we were unable to use any one of our current service providers, alternate providers are available; however, we believe our revenue could be impacted for some period as we transition to a new provider, and the new provider may be unable to provide equivalent or satisfactory services. Any disruption or restriction on the distribution of our communications, termination or disruption of our relationships with our third-party service providers, particularly our single third-party service provider for the delivery of mail communications, or any increase in the associated costs, may be beyond our control and would adversely affect our business.
We face the risk of litigation resulting from unauthorized text messages sent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
We send short message service (“SMS”) text messages to individuals who are eligible to use our service. The actual or perceived improper sending of text messages may subject us to potential risks, including liabilities or claims relating to consumer protection laws. Numerous class action suits under federal and state laws have been filed in recent years against companies who conduct SMS texting programs, with many resulting in multi-million-dollar settlements to the plaintiffs. We have been, and in the future may be subject to such litigation, which could be costly and time-consuming to defend. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991, a federal statute that protects consumers from unwanted telephone calls, faxes and text messages, restricts telemarketing and the use of automated SMS text messages without proper consent. Federal or state regulatory authorities or private litigants may claim that the notices and disclosures we provide, form of consents we obtain or our SMS texting practices are not adequate or violate applicable law. This has resulted and may in the future result in civil claims against us. The scope and interpretation of the laws that are or may be applicable to the delivery of text messages are continuously evolving and developing. If we do not comply with these laws or regulations or if we become liable under these laws or regulations, we could face direct liability, could be required to change some portions of our business model, could face negative publicity and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Even an unsuccessful challenge of our SMS texting practices by our consumers, regulatory authorities or other third parties could result in negative publicity and could require a costly response from and defense by us.
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Actual or perceived failures to comply with applicable data protection, privacy and security, advertising and consumer protection laws, regulations, standards and other requirements could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on a variety of marketing techniques, including email and social media marketing and postal mailings, and we are subject to various laws and regulations that govern such marketing and advertising practices. A variety of federal and state laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of consumer data, particularly in the context of online advertising, which we rely upon to attract new consumers.
Laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection, marketing and advertising, and consumer protection are evolving and subject to potentially differing interpretations. These requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that varies from one jurisdiction to another and/or may conflict with other law or regulations. As a result, our practices may not have complied or may not comply in the future with all such laws, regulations, requirements and obligations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us or any of our third-party partners, data centers, or service providers to comply with privacy policies or federal or state privacy or consumer protection-related laws, regulations, industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, regulatory guidance, orders to which we may be subject, or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection, could adversely affect our reputation, brand and business, and may result in claims, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, consumers, suppliers or others. These proceedings may result in financial liabilities or may require us to change our operations, including ceasing the use or sharing of certain data sets. Any such claims, proceedings or actions could hurt our reputation, brand and business, force us to incur significant expenses in defense of such proceedings or actions, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, result in a loss of consumers, suppliers, and contracts with PBMs and others and result in the imposition of monetary penalties. We are also contractually required to indemnify and hold harmless certain third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with any laws, regulations or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection or any inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure of data that we store or handle as part of operating our business. Federal and state governmental authorities continue to evaluate the privacy implications inherent in the use of third-party “cookies” and other methods of online tracking for behavioral advertising and other purposes. The U.S. federal and state governments have enacted, and may in the future enact legislation or regulations impacting the ability of companies and individuals to engage in these activities, such as by regulating the level of consumer notice and consent required before a company can employ cookies or other electronic tracking tools or the use of data gathered with such tools. Additionally, some providers of consumer devices and web browsers have implemented, or announced plans to implement, limits on behavioral or targeted advertising and/or means to make it easier for internet users to prevent the placement of cookies or to block other tracking technologies, which could, if widely adopted, result in the decreased effectiveness or use of third-party cookies and other methods of online tracking, targeting or re-targeting. The regulation of the use of these cookies and other current online tracking and advertising practices or a loss in our ability to make effective use of services that employ such technologies could increase our costs of operations and limit our ability to acquire new consumers on cost-effective terms and consequently, materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, various federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies (“self-regulatory organizations”) may expand current laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations or issue revised rules or guidance regarding privacy, data protection, consumer protection, and advertising. In June 2018, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), which became effective on January 1, 2020. The CCPA creates individual privacy rights for California consumers and increases the privacy and security obligations of entities handling certain personal data. For example, the CCPA gives California residents expanded rights to access and require deletion of their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used. Failure to comply with the CCPA may result in attorney general enforcement action and damage to our reputation. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation. The CCPA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Additionally, the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”) recently passed in California.
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The CPRA will impose additional data protection obligations on companies doing business in California, including additional consumer rights processes, limitations on data uses, new audit requirements for higher risk data, and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. It will also create a new California data protection agency authorized to issue substantive regulations and could result in increased privacy and information security enforcement. The majority of the provisions will go into effect on January 1, 2023, and additional compliance investment and potential business process changes may be required. Further, many similar laws have been proposed at the federal level and in other states. For instance, the state of Nevada enacted a law that went into force on October 1, 2019 and requires companies to honor consumers’ requests to no longer sell their data. Violators may be subject to injunctions and civil penalties.