How Cathy Tie Built the Shopify for Pharma

Locke Bio: Simplifying Pharma E-commerce

When Cathy Tie was 23, she saw how slow and costly it was for pharmaceutical companies to launch direct-to-consumer telehealth and online pharmacy services. Building a compliant platform used to take over a year and millions of dollars. Cathy thought: why not create a plug-and-play solution that cuts this down to weeks? That idea became Locke Bio.

The Challenge

Companies faced rigid regulations, complex doctor integrations, EMR setups, pharmacy networks, and payment processors that would cancel accounts if prescriptions seemed risky. Every brand had to reinvent the wheel piece by piece. This meant enormous dev spend and long timelines.

The Solution

Locke Bio packages all core components into a single SaaS platform. Users get:

• Customizable patient intake forms
• Built-in video consultations
• Secure electronic medical records
• An integrated pharmacy network across 50 states and Canada
• Online payment processing that accepts prescriptions
• User analytics for ongoing optimization

With these building blocks, a company can spin up a fully compliant telehealth brand in two weeks rather than a year.

Founder Journey

Cathy started cold-emailing lab professors at 14, published her first immunology paper at 16, then cofounded Ranomics at 18. She joined IndieBio, won a Thiel Fellowship, and later invested in SaaS as a partner at Cervin Ventures. Those experiences shaped her view: healthcare needs a Shopify-style platform to scale fast.

Results and Growth

Since launch, Locke Bio has secured funding from three leading VC firms in the US and Canada. Clients can now go from zero to live telemedicine in just two weeks, reducing development costs by over 80%. The platform handles thousands of patient interactions monthly and continues to expand its pharmacy network.

Looking Ahead

Cathy plans to add more specialty integrations, expand into new markets, and refine analytics tools for providers. With a solid foundation, Locke Bio is poised to become the go-to solution for regulated e-commerce experiences in healthcare.