Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform aimed at millennials, announced on Monday the addition of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors.
Schultz, who has worked for over 25 years at the Danish pharmaceutical company known for diabetes and obesity medications, held roles including president and chief operating officer. He currently serves as the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz commented, “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 modern tools to 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 Monday morning trading, marking a 125% increase since the start of the year.
This development comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in widely-used diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The company is pricing a month’s supply of the weight loss medication at $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 list price and Wegovy’s $1,349.
The limited availability of these sought-after and costly brand-name drugs has led some telehealth platforms to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded versions of medications that are in shortage. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to meet individual patient needs.
Generally, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits the compounding of drugs that merely replicate commercially available medications. However, drugs classified as being in shortage are not considered commercially available by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In an interview with Bloomberg, Schultz expressed confidence in the company’s long-term prospects for selling compounded semaglutide. When asked about the future of compounded semaglutide production after shortages are resolved, he stated he wasn’t concerned, noting that patients would still require individualized prescriptions.