Virtual opioid use disorder treatment company Bicycle Health is partnering with supermarket chain Albertsons to allow the telehealth company's providers to prescribe buprenorphine monthly injections for opioid use disorder that can be filled inside Albertsons pharmacies across 17 states.  

Buprenorphine has been shown to reduce the risk of death after an opioid overdose. 

Bicycle Health's doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners will be able to prescribe the extended-release injections (known as Sublocade) as an alternative to buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone), which is an oral medication taken daily. 

Patients can be prescribed the medication virtually through the company's app and receive the injection from an on-site pharmacist at one of the 700 participating Albertsons' pharmacies.

"Increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is essential to overcoming the nation’s opioid crisis. By expanding the availability of Sublocade to Albertsons Cos. pharmacies will help protect the progress made during COVID and accelerate utilization of MOUD by making new treatment options available," Ankit Gupta, founder and CEO of Bicycle Health, said in a statement. 

THE LARGER TREND

Bicycle Health has announced several partnerships over the past year.

In February, Bicycle Health teamed with medical and mental healthcare provider Wellpath to provide virtual opioid use disorder services to individuals living in the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Residential Reentry Centers.  

Last year, the company partnered with emergency telehealth provider Tele911 to connect patients who experienced an overdose or have symptoms of opioid use disorder to Bicycle Health providers after being evaluated by a Tele911 emergency physician. 

The virtual care company has secured significant funding, including $50 million in a Series B funding round last year and $27 million in a Series A round in 2021.