In this articleFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTMethodiq brand advertisement. Courtesy: MethodiqIl Makiage parent company Oddity is branching out into medical-grade skin care with its new brand Methodiq, as the online retailer looks to compete with Hims and help to address what it called a “broken medical care system.” Methodiq, which has been in the works for four years and launched on Tuesday, is a telehealth platform that will offer 28 new products, including creams, supplements and cosmetics, that address acne, hyperpigmentation and eczema. The lineup is a mix of prescription and over-the-counter items that range in price from about $29 to around $59. Methodiq combines Oddity’s investments into biotechnology, AI-based computational imaging, and digital retailing. It will allow the company to gain a slice of the burgeoning medical skin care market, which is projected to reach $113 billion this year, according to Research and Markets. Methodiq products. Courtesy: MethodiqThe company’s expansion into medical skin care takes direct aim at Hims, which offers popular anti-acne medications and other prescriptions through a telehealth platform. The launch signals Oddity could move deeper into health care in the future. “We have these 60 million users on our platform. We know a lot about them. Around half of them have some combo of acne, eczema, hyperpigmentation. We serve a lot of them, obviously, already with Il Makiage complexion products or foundation concealer. We’ve never had the opportunity before … to actually treat the condition,” said Oddity finance chief Lindsay Drucker Mann. “That’s why dermatology is an obvious starting point for us. From there, there’s many other medical domains for us to expand into.” Oddity, which is set to announce 2025 third-quarter results on Wednesday, hasn’t included Methodiq in its 2025 or 2026 revenue outlooks, primarily because it expects sales to make up only a small portion of overall revenue, said Drucker Mann. However, she said the brand has “enormous revenue potential in the future,” especially if Methodiq expands beyond just medical skin care.She pointed to Hims’ goal of reaching $6.5 billion in annual revenue by 2030 and said it shows “the size of what you can do with a successful telehealth” platform. Still, the strategy doesn’t come without challenges. Pharmaceutical products are heavily regulated, the sector is becoming more competitive and customer trust is hard to win.Plus, telehealth platforms can be difficult to scale safely. In March, The Wall Street Journal published an investigation into Hims showing how some patients experienced serious side effects after taking hair loss medication from the company. Most of the patients said they didn’t realize the drugs could come with those side effects, while others felt they weren’t adequately warned.The publication found unlike drugmakers, telehealth companies aren’t required to disclose side effects and other risks in advertisements.How Methodiq works Oddity’s investments into computational imaging and biotechnology are coming to life in Methodiq. In 2021, it acquired Voyage81, a deep tech AI-based computational imaging startup that was co-founded by the former head of research and development for one of the Israel Defense Forces’ elite technological units. Two years later, it acquired biotech startup Revela and created Oddity Labs. The unit has been working to create brand-new molecules with artificial intelligence that can be used in its cosmetics brands and future lines.Voyage81’s imaging capabilities and the new molecules from Oddity Labs are both part of the Methodiq platform. When consumers join Methodiq, they fill out information about their skin concerns and undergo a facial scan, which maps out their face and determines what conditions, if any, they have. A medical doctor then reviews the information and recommends a suite of products that patients receive in a “kit” at regular intervals. The kits can include widely available standard acne medication, such as the oral antibiotic Doxycycline, but also fresh approaches to anti-acne creams. Methodiq products. Courtesy: MethodiqFor example, Methodiq’s Clindalaq product contains tretinoin, a prescription-strength topical retinoid used to treat acne and other skin concerns, but also a mix of other ingredients that aim to make it more desirable to consumers than the standard creams prescribed by doctors. It includes h …
