Telehealth built the new drug marketing — direct, disclosed, and on camera.
Hims & Hers (Hims Inc., founded 2017, IPO 2021) and Ro (Roman, founded 2017) became the category-defining direct-to-consumer telehealth platforms in the US between 2020 and 2025. By 2024, Hims & Hers exceeded $1.5B annual revenue. Ro maintained private-company status with reported substantial revenue.
The platforms restructured how prescription medications get marketed to consumers. The traditional pharma model — DTC TV advertising directing consumers to "ask your doctor about [drug]," with the prescribing decision happening at an in-person visit — was replaced by integrated platforms where the consumer researches, schedules, consults, prescribes, and ships in a single-platform experience.
Telehealth built the new drug marketing — direct, disclosed, and on camera.
The Telehealth Drug Marketing Stack — 2026
Tier | Surfaces |
|---|---|
1 | TikTok #Ozempic, #Wegovy, before/after content, Reddit r/Semaglutide |
2 | Influencer disclosure content, podcast endorsements, celebrity weight-loss reveals |
3 | People, US Weekly, The Cut, financial press (revenue stories) |
4 | TV news health segments |
The category players
Hims & Hers. Originally launched around ED (erectile dysfunction) and hair loss for men, then expanded to women's health (Hers), mental health prescribing, dermatology, primary care, and GLP-1 prescribing (launched 2024). Publicly listed.
Ro (Roman). Originally ED-focused men's health, expanded to weight management (Ro Body), women's health (Rory), and broader prescribing. Private.
Sequence (acquired by WW 2023 for ~$132M). GLP-1-focused telehealth. The WW acquisition was a strategic pivot in response to GLP-1 demand.
Calibrate. GLP-1 and weight-management focused.
Found. GLP-1 and weight-management focused.
Noom (med). Noom's medication-integration extension launched 2023.
Lifemd. Multi-category prescribing platform.
Cerebral. Mental health focused.
Done. ADHD prescribing focused (faced DEA investigation 2023).
Forhims/Forhers and Roman's various sub-brands. The category-leading platforms' sub-brand structures.
What changed in drug marketing
The "ask your doctor" workflow disappeared. Consumers researching prescription options on TikTok, Reddit, or the platform's own website can transition directly from awareness to consultation to prescription in a single-platform experience.
Influencer prescription content emerged. Disclosed paid relationships between platforms and influencers — including hair-loss influencers, weight-loss influencers, and broader wellness creators — drive substantial prescription volume.
Celebrity disclosure became marketing. Oprah, Kelly Clarkson, Tracy Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and the GLP-1-disclosure-celebrity cohort created sustained category visibility that platforms benefited from without direct payment relationship.
Before-and-after content reshaped expectations. TikTok before-and-after content for GLP-1 medications (legally complex from FDA marketing-rule perspective) became the category's most-watched content.
Compounding pharmacy supply structured marketing. Branded medication shortages (Wegovy, Ozempic) drove demand to compounded semaglutide from compounding pharmacies. The compounding-pharmacy marketing layer ran parallel to and sometimes blurred with telehealth-platform marketing.
What this looks like in practice
The Hims/Hers Super Bowl 2025 GLP-1 ad. The ad, advocating for weight-loss medication access while criticizing pharma pricing, became the most-discussed wellness-pharma marketing moment of the year. Multiple legal and regulatory challenges followed.
Hims & Hers' 2024 mental health prescribing expansion. The platform's expansion into anxiety and depression prescribing, paired with controversial Super Bowl 2025 commercial, generated regulatory and consumer-press scrutiny.
Ro's continued category expansion. Ro Body's weight-management offering paired with sustained men's health focus built broader-category positioning.
Sequence/WW Sequence integration. The Weight Watchers strategic pivot through Sequence acquisition restructured the legacy WW category around GLP-1 prescribing.
Done's DEA investigation cycle. The ADHD-prescribing telehealth platform faced sustained federal investigation in 2023, restructuring the broader telehealth-prescribing PR landscape.
What works
FDA-compliant marketing language. Platforms that maintain marketing language within FDA prescription drug advertising boundaries sustain operating runway.
Transparent pricing. Platforms that publish clear pricing rather than obscuring through "consultation" pricing models sustain consumer trust.
Clinical-team visibility. Platforms with visible clinical leadership (medical directors, prescribing physician networks) sustain credibility.
Disclosed influencer relationships. Platforms requiring FTC-compliant disclosure from influencer partners avoid sustained regulatory exposure.
Patient-safety infrastructure. Platforms with clear patient-safety protocols (telehealth visit requirements, prescription monitoring, drug-interaction screening) preempt regulatory crisis.
Insurance-coverage navigation. Platforms that help consumers navigate insurance coverage rather than positioning around cash-pay only sustain broader category credibility.
What doesn't work
Aggressive prescription marketing without adequate clinical evaluation. The Cerebral and Done cycles illustrated the consequences.
Unclear medication composition (compounding pharmacy challenges). Compounded medications from non-FDA-approved sources face sustained regulatory and consumer-press scrutiny.
Off-label marketing without compliance discipline. Platforms that market medications for off-label uses without adequate compliance face FDA enforcement.
Failure to disclose influencer relationships. FTC enforcement of disclosure requirements has accelerated.
What this means for the PR operation
The telehealth PR firm in 2026 runs:
FDA prescription-drug-advertising compliance discipline
DEA scheduled-substance prescribing compliance (where applicable)
State-by-state telehealth regulatory communications
Patient-safety infrastructure communications
Clinical-team and medical-director positioning
Insurance-coverage navigation positioning
Influencer-relationship disclosure infrastructure
Crisis comms infrastructure for regulatory investigations
5W AI Communications, FleishmanHillard's health practice, Real Chemistry, Spectrum Science, Coyne PR's health practice, Edelman Health, and the dedicated telehealth-specialist boutiques all run telehealth PR as specialized category service.
The structural takeaway
Telehealth restructured prescription drug marketing in the US. The traditional pharma marketing model — TV ad → "ask your doctor" → in-person visit → prescription → retail pharmacy — got compressed into a single-platform experience that runs on direct consumer marketing rather than physician-intermediated marketing.
The category created its own regulatory exposure profile (FDA, FTC, DEA, state medical boards, state pharmacy boards, state insurance regulators). The PR operations working the category run pharma-grade regulatory communications alongside consumer marketing.
Telehealth built the new drug marketing — direct, disclosed, and on camera. The platforms that respected the regulatory infrastructure scaled. The platforms that didn't restructured under enforcement.
