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All issuesIssue №09Pru3 min read
The Pru Series

At Cost,
Explained

How pru prices a vial. The wholesale cost, the operating cost, and exactly why we add no markup on the medicine.

A 3-minute read

Most telehealth brands tell you what their products cost. They do not tell you why. The price on the page is a single number with no breakdown, no source attribution, and no way to verify whether you are paying for medicine, advertising, or something else entirely.

pru is built differently. We publish the math. Every component of the price you pay is broken out, named, and explained. The pharmacy cost. The syringe kit. The shipping. The physician's consult. The platform overhead. None of it is hidden, because none of it should be — and we keep no margin on the medicine at all.

The formula

You pay what the medication costs us. The wholesale cost of the molecule and the supplies that come with it, your consult and shipping, plus a flat operating cost to run the platform — and nothing on top. We add zero markup on the medicine itself. The operating cost is not profit; it is the real expense of paying engineers, clinicians, and customer support. What funds the company is the membership, not a margin hidden inside the price of your medicine.

A worked example: Tirzepatide

Here is the math on a real prescription from the pru formulary. Tirzepatide injectable, two milliliters at sixteen-point-six milligrams per milliliter — thirty-three-point-two milligrams of medicine in the bottle. The structure is the same for every peptide we offer. The numbers change with the molecule, the dose, and the supplies it requires.

Worked Example · Tirzepatide
How we get to $143.94
Tirzepatide injectable · 2 mL · 33.2 mg
Pharmacy cost
From the FDA-regulated 503A compounding pharmacy that prepares your peptide.
$75.00
Syringe kit
Sterile single-use injection kit, included with every injectable.
$5.00
Shipping
Cold-chain delivery direct to your door.
$19.95
Physician consult
Independent licensed M.D. who reviews your health profile and writes the prescription.
$20.00
Operating cost
A flat 20% — the real cost of running the platform. Engineering, support, content, payroll. Not profit.
+ $23.99
You pay
$143.94

That is the entire price. There is no margin line, because there is no margin. pru takes zero profit on the medicine.

Why we do it this way

Most telehealth brands quote one number. They cannot tell you what fraction of that number is the medicine, what fraction is the marketing, or what fraction is the founder's salary.

We chose the opposite approach. The breakdown is a feature, not a marketing trick. If our pharmacy cost goes up, your price goes up by the same dollar amount. If we negotiate a better wholesale rate, your price comes down. There is no surprise.

The same molecule, the difference is the markup
pru at cost
$144
At-cost pricing, every line item published, zero markup on the medicine.
Industry Average
~$450
Single sticker price, no breakdown, no verification.
Industry comparison reflects publicly listed prices for compounded Tirzepatide across other U.S. telehealth brands. Pricing varies by brand, dose, and time.

The breakdown is a feature, not a marketing trick.

What membership covers

pru membership is sixty dollars a month. It is the only membership we sell, and it covers the things that recurring care actually requires.

The pru Membership
$60/month
  • Medication at cost on every prescribed peptide. You pay exactly what it costs us — pharmacy fill, supplies, consult, shipping, and operating — with zero markup on the medicine. Membership is how pru keeps the lights on, not the medication.
  • Unlimited physician messaging during your active protocol. Direct line to your prescribing physician, no extra charge.
  • 25% off every future consult. Whether you are being prescribed something new or booking a synchronous follow-up to track progress, the member rate applies.
  • Priority refill coordination. We coordinate refill timing with your physician seven days before your current supply runs out, so there is no protocol gap.
  • The pru Brief, members' edition. Quarterly research digest, member case stories, and an early subscriber preview of new compounds we add to the catalog.

The principle

At-cost pricing is unusual in this industry. We think it should not be. The medicine you take should be priced the way nothing else in healthcare is: at the actual cost of materials, labor, and operating, with an itemized bill and no markup buried inside it. That is what trust looks like in healthcare. It is what we are committed to delivering.

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