Wisp, a sexual and reproductive telehealth provider, has added a fertility vertical with several partners meant to help birthing people navigate getting pregnant.
The offerings come amid growing consumer demand, the company says. A recent Wisp survey of its customers revealed 70% are interested in more education on and access to products for fertility. To that end, Wisp has teamed up with Proov to offer ovarian reserve and hormone testing, fertility kits and pregnancy tests. It has also partnered with PherDal to offer its FDA-approved at-home insemination kit.
As part of the second phase of the new offering rollout, Wisp will offer fertility consultations and at-home blood draws through a partner and prescription medications.
“Our long-term vision is to really become that go-to brand for all things sexual and reproductive health, at all stages of a woman's health care journey,” Wisp CEO and Chief Marketing Officer Monica Cepak told Fierce Healthcare.
An important part of fertility care is diagnostics, as well as having a variety of options, per Cepak. “The thing about fertility is that there is no magic pill,” she said.
It is estimated that 1 in 5 women struggle to conceive after one year of trying. Women can spend an average of upward of $40,000 on in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments to conceive successfully. The traditional healthcare system is set up to refer women to high-cost services like IVF, Cepak argues. Yet the period of fertility struggle leading up to IVF is an untapped “white space” in the industry. This is a position that another player in the space, Maven Clinic, has taken. It has found that a third of its fertility and family building program members can achieve pregnancy without IVF.
Ovulation medications are one option that can be effective, “which is not commonly known about as an option for significantly increasing a woman’s chance of conceiving,” Cepak explained. While the exact time a woman spends on ovulation medications before moving on to IVF varies, it can range from three to six months, per Cepak. For women who conceive, Wisp will then refer them to an obstetrician for pregnancy care. Or, if they need assisted reproductive technology like IVF, Wisp will refer them to the services.
Wisp is available in all 50 states and is cash-pay only, though the company is exploring the possibility of payer partnerships. Wisp is also exploring expanding into menopause and hormone replacement therapy in 2025.
Cepak says Wisp prices are affordable as part of its mission to democratize access to care. “Most of our patients actually do have insurance but just choose Wisp because A: it’s way more convenient and B: in most cases it’s cheaper than a co-pay, so it’s like a win-win,” Cepak said. The Proov and PherDal products now being offered will cost the same via Wisp as they do at their respective retail sites.
Earlier this year, Wisp partnered with TBD Health, a hybrid sexual health provider, to refer its patients to TBD Health’s clinics in Denver and Las Vegas. Wisp patients have direct access to TBD Health’s gender-inclusive sexual healthcare, including STI testing, preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) prescriptions, treatments for urinary tract infections, birth control and more. This partnership aims to unify a fractured healthcare landscape through virtual and in-person communication and care, executives said.