Nurx can now ship the morning-after pill overnight to patients

Direct-to-consumer women’s health company Nurx is once again broadening its offerings, this time into urgent care with the launch of Nurx Now.

Kicking off Nurx Now, the company will provide access to emergency contraception with urgent care telehealth appointments available seven days a week and with overnight shipping.

Nurx already offers two morning-after pills, New Day (a generic version of Plan-B One-Step) and Ella. With Nurx Now, patients can get Ella shipped overnight for $15, plus the cost of the medication, which is often free with insurance or $45 without.

The company will continue to offer free regular shipping for both medications. It has plans to expand Nurx Now to offer additional urgent care solutions in the future.

“By meeting the demand for urgent emergency contraception through access to medical providers seven days a week and overnight shipping, Nurx is breaking down barriers to sensitive health needs and offering comprehensive care,” Varsha Rao, CEO of Nurx said in a statement.

“Our patients who trust Nurx with their ongoing medical needs are also seeking urgent solutions and Nurx Now will provide that, first in emergency contraception with other urgent care options to follow.”

WHY THIS MATTERS

Awareness and use of emergency contraception have increased over recent years. In 2004, 75% of women knew what the morning after pill was, compared to 2017, when 93% of women reported the same, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Similarly, in 2002 only 4% of women had used emergency contraception in their lifetime compared to 22% between 2013 and 2014.

The rise of emergency contraception can be attributed in part to the FDA’s 2013 decision to allow Plan-B and its generic forms available over-the-counter to people over the age of 15.

In spite of its increased availability, many barriers still remain around emergency contraception, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. These include common misconceptions like confusing Plan-B with medication-induced abortion, financial restraints, pharmacies refusing to stock the medication or fears of embarrassment if found out.

Nurx wants its new urgent care service to increase accessibility to emergency contraception.

“By offering emergency contraception with expedited shipping, Nurx makes this valuable pregnancy prevention tool more accessible and continues our commitment to destigmatizing personal health needs,” Dr. Jennifer Peña, the chief medical officer at Nurx, said in a statement.

THE LARGER TREND

Nurx got its start offering prescriptions for birth control and PrEP via telehealth. Since then, it has grown to include at-home STI and COVID-19 testing, treatments for migraine headaches and topical remedies for rosacea.

The company completed a Series C funding round last summer that brought its total funding to $113 million.

The Pill Club also offers mail-order birth control and emergency contraception pills. The company raised $41.9 million in a Series B extension earlier this year.

Other direct-to-consumer health companies Ro and Hims & Hers have been on an M&A kick this year. Ro bought up reproductive health company Modern Fertility in May, and followed up by purchasing at-home diagnostic company Kit in June.

As for Hims & Hers, it scooped up Apostrophe in June, with plans to strengthen its dermatology services.