Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform targeting millennials, announced on Monday the appointment of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors. Schultz, who has over 25 years of experience at the Danish pharmaceutical company known for its diabetes and obesity medications, is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz expressed enthusiasm for joining Hims & Hers, stating, “Hims & Hers is on a trajectory to upend the healthcare industry. In my long career in the pharmaceutical sector, this is the first company I have seen that is using 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% during morning trading, and the stock has surged 125% since the start of the year.
This news comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the well-known diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, both manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The company is selling a month’s supply of the weight loss medication for $199, significantly less than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 list price and Wegovy’s $1,349 cost.
The current shortage of these popular and pricey brand-name drugs has led many telehealth platforms to utilize a section of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded medications that are in short supply. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to suit the specific needs of individual patients.
While the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act generally prohibits the compounding of drugs that merely replicate commercially available medications, drugs classified as being in shortage are seen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as not commercially available.
In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Schultz stated that Hims & Hers has a “long future” in selling compounded semaglutide. When asked whether pharmacies would still be able to produce compounded semaglutide after the shortages cease, Schultz expressed confidence that there would still be instances requiring personalized prescriptions.