Massive direct-to-consumer health and wellness company, Hims & Hers, announced an unexpected expansion into cardiovascular care last week with the launch of Heart Health by Hims.
Noting that erectile dysfunction is an early sign of cardiovascular disease, Heart Health by Hims will leverage the company’s position as a leading ED treatment provider as it tries to become a next-gen CVD detection and preventative care company.
- And they plan to do this by prescribing a single daily “2-in-1” pill that combines the ED medication tadalafil (Cialis) with the CVD medication rosuvastatin.
Through its “dual-action approach” to CVD care, Hims will…
- Identify platform users who present signs of CVD risks during the ED treatment intake process
- Educate these patients about their CVD risks, while also informing their Hims care platform provider to explore cardiovascular treatments
- Have its providers consult with the patients, and potentially prescribe the 2-in-1 combo pill (at customized dosage) if deemed appropriate
To support key processes and likely to build cardiology trust, Hims & Hers simultaneously launched alliances with the ACC (focused on CVD risk assessments and patient education tools) and Labcorp (focused on lab-based heart health testing to support diagnoses).
Hims & Hers has major goals for cardiovascular care. Noting its huge client base of ~1.2M monthly users, and it’s estimate that 30% of Hims ED customers have at least one CVD risk factor, the company vowed to continue to “heavily invest in and expand” in cardiovascular care and eventually “bend the curve” on CVD deaths.
- The company wasn’t clear about where that future CVD expansion might bring it, but Hims & Hers is reportedly eyeing an expansion into GLP-1 weight loss meds, and it has a wide range of other platform users who might have higher CVD risks but don’t require ED treatments (including women).
The Takeaway
Hims & Hers’ new Heart Health service is vastly different from what many Cardiac Wire readers are accustomed to (or even comfortable with). However, this DTC approach could prove to be an effective way to increase CVD diagnosis and treatment, especially given Hims’ massive pipeline of male clients and considering that ED meds have far greater adherence rates than statins.
