TrumpRx adds connections to Amazon and Mark Cuban's Cost Plus

When the site opened for business in February, it offered entries for about 80 brand-name drugs, without details about where consumers could use the discount coupons.

GoodRx — an online drug price comparison service and telemedicine platform operator — has helped drug manufacturers offer the discounts, and it now appears to be helping to power the pharmacy locator feature on the site.

President Donald Trump celebrated the expansion of the site's services Monday, at a healthcare affordability event at the White House.

"Since that launch in February, TrumpRx.gov has already been visited more than 10 million times and has saved American consumers over $400 million," Trump said. "We're just sort of getting started, actually, because we have a lot more to come."

Related: TrumpRx.gov traffic beats competitors in first month, despite limited features

"People are saving a lot," Trump said.

Adding coupons for generic drugs will help consumers get the lowest possible prices on their prescriptions, Trump said.

TrumpRx.gov critics have argued that the site offers prices that are available elsewhere, are often higher than the lowest prices seen on GoodRx, and, for insured patients, are often higher than what the patients would pay out-of-pocket for covered drugs.

The GoodRx perspective: GoodRx executives have talked about the company's relationship with TrumpRx.gov in a report the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the first quarter and during a conference call the company held to go over results for the first quarter with securities analysts.

GoodRx described itself in the SEC filing as a "key integration partner" for the drug manufacturers offering price discounts through the TrumpRx.gov site.

At this point, many of the TrumpRx.gov visitors appear to be using the site to get discounts on GLP-1 agonist weight-loss drugs, the company said.

"Based on preliminary data, this utilization appears to be incremental, expanding access to new patients rather than displacing existing demand," the company said. "The potential impact of TrumpRx on our business, offerings, or results of operations remains uncertain and could be material."

During the conference call, Wendy Barnes, the chief executive officer of GoodRx, said the company has had a relationship with the drug manufacturers but not with TrumpRx.gov.

When consumers use the TrumpRx.gov coupons, the economics for GoodRx are the same as if the consumers had obtained similar coupons on the GoodRx website, Barnes said.

What it might mean for employers: Barnes said employers with self-insured health plans can benefit from drug manufacturers' new discount coupons by using a GoodRx program that helps employees apply employer contributions for a drug to the discounted price.

"This creates a clear, reduced out-of-pocket cost for employees while giving employers a more flexible and predictable way to support high-impact therapies," Barnes said. "This is a clear example of how pharma direct pricing can be extended into the employer channel without requiring changes to the core benefit structure.

Barnes and the speakers at the White House event did not say whether TrumpRx.gov will add a TrumpRx.gov employer plan discount program.