Venrock Leads $20 Million Investment in SmithRX

<p><strong>SAN FRANCISCO<&sol;strong> &&num;8212&semi; SmithRx&comma; a technology-enabled pharmacy benefits management company&comma; has closed a &dollar;20 million series B financing round&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>SmithRX reported a year of record growth in which the company surpassed 1&comma;100 employer clients&period; Venrock led the oversubscribed round and was joined by existing investors&comma; including Founders Fund&period; The proceeds will support Smith’s plans for continued growth as it becomes the leader in next-generation pharmacy benefits management &lpar;PBM&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Venrock’s deep experience in scaling health tech companies will be invaluable to Smith’s future growth and we are thrilled to partner with their team&comma;” said Jake Frenz&comma; Founder and CEO of SmithRx&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Smith continues to expand its foothold in the PBM sector as we put the power back in the hands of employers – our customers – who are the ones paying the pharmacy bills on behalf of their employees and members&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The PBM industry has suffered from increasing inefficiency over the past decades&comma; as incumbents have taken oversized margins while driving up drug costs for health plans&comma; employers&comma; and patients&period; SmithRx is leading the next-generation of pharmacy benefits with a tech-forward approach that provides full control and transparency to its clients&period; The company’s innovative&comma; fully integrated cost savings programs proactively drive down drug costs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The rapid adoption of the SmithRx solution is a testament to the pent-up demand for modern&comma; customer-centric PBM services&period; Smith has built this solution by focusing on rebuilding PBM technology infrastructure from the ground up&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The lack of visibility into pricing&comma; combined with ever-increasing drug costs&comma; demands a fresh and novel approach&comma;” said Bryan Roberts&comma; a partner at Venrock&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;What the team at SmithRx has built over the last six years is delivering on its promise to save customers money&comma; enabled by technology and empowered by transparency&period; We look forward to partnering with the SmithRx team on their company building journey&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;