Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform popular among millennials, announced on Monday that Kåre Schultz, a former long-time executive at Novo Nordisk, has joined its board of directors.
Schultz brings over 25 years of experience from the Danish pharmaceutical company, renowned for its diabetes and obesity medications, where he held various positions, including president and chief operating officer. He is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz remarked, “Hims & Hers is on a trajectory to upend the healthcare industry. In my long career in the pharmaceutical industry, this is the first company I have seen that is leveraging today’s modern tools to truly break down barriers and change the status quo of how people access the health solutions they need to live their fullest lives. I’m thrilled to be a part of this journey.”
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers shares rose by 3% in morning trading and have surged 125% since the beginning of the year.
This development comes just months after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, both manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The telehealth platform is providing a month’s supply of the weight-loss medication for $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s list price of nearly $1,000 and Wegovy’s $1,349.
The high demand and limited supply of these expensive medications have prompted various telehealth platforms to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that allows for the sale of compounded versions of drugs that are currently in shortage. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a state-licensed pharmacist or physician to cater to an individual patient’s specific needs.
Generally, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act restricts the compounding of drugs that are merely replicas of commercially available medications. However, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), drugs considered to be in shortage are not classified as commercially available.
Schultz told Bloomberg on Monday that the company anticipates a “long future” in offering compounded semaglutide. When asked about the possibility of pharmacies continuing to make compounded semaglutide after shortages are resolved, Schultz expressed confidence that individualized prescriptions would still create demand.