Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform aimed at millennials, announced on Monday the addition of Kåre Schultz, a veteran executive from Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors.
Schultz boasts over 25 years at Novo Nordisk, a company renowned for its diabetes and obesity treatments, where he held various positions, including president and chief operating officer. Currently, he serves as the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz expressed excitement about joining Hims & Hers, stating, “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% during the morning trading session, reflecting a remarkable 125% increase since the start of the year.
The news coincides with Hims & Hers launching a compounded version of semaglutide, the active component in the popular weight loss and diabetes medications Ozempic and Wegovy, both products of Novo Nordisk. The company offers a month’s supply of the compounded medication for $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 price and Wegovy’s $1,349 price tag.
The demand for these pricey brand-name pharmaceuticals has prompted multiple telehealth platforms to capitalize on a provision of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, allowing the sale of compounded medications when original versions are in shortage.
Compounding permits pharmacists or physicians to tailor an approved drug to meet specific patient needs. While generally, the Act limits compounding to avoid duplicating commercially available medications, drugs recognized as being in short supply are exempt from this rule by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In an interview with Bloomberg, Schultz highlighted the company’s promising future in providing compounded semaglutide. He addressed potential concerns about the continuation of compounded semaglutide after shortages are resolved, reassuring that individual patient needs would still necessitate such custom prescriptions.