Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform targeting millennials, announced the addition of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors on Monday.
Schultz has spent more than 25 years at Novo Nordisk, which specializes in diabetes and obesity treatments, where he held various positions including president and chief operating officer. He is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
“I believe Hims & Hers is poised to transform the healthcare landscape,” Schultz stated in a press release. “In my extensive career in pharmaceuticals, this is the first company I have encountered that effectively utilizes modern tools to dismantle barriers and revolutionize access to essential health solutions. I’m excited to join this mission.”
The announcement coincided with a 3% surge in Hims & Hers stock during Monday’s trading session, bringing the company’s total share price increase to 125% since the year began.
This development follows Hims & Hers’ recent introduction of a compounded version of semaglutide, the key ingredient in popular diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, both manufactured by Novo Nordisk.
Hims & Hers is offering a month’s supply of this weight loss treatment for $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 retail price and Wegovy’s $1,349 cost.
The shortage of these sought-after and pricey brand-name drugs has allowed several telehealth platforms to exploit a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which permits the sale of compounded versions of medications that are currently unavailable.
Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to fulfill the unique needs of a patient.
Usually, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act bans the compounding of medications that merely replicate commercially available drugs. However, medications deemed in shortage by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are not classified as commercially available.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Schultz expressed confidence in the company’s long-term potential for selling compounded semaglutide. When questioned about the future availability of compounded semaglutide once shortages are resolved, Schultz reassured that there would still be instances requiring individualized prescriptions.