Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform popular among millennials, announced on Monday the addition of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors.
Schultz brings over 25 years of experience from Novo Nordisk, a company renowned for its diabetes and obesity medications, where he held positions including president and chief operating officer. He is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
“Hims & Hers is on a trajectory to disrupt the healthcare industry,” Schultz stated in a press release. “In my extensive career in pharmaceuticals, this is the first company that is truly utilizing modern tools to dismantle barriers and change how individuals access essential health solutions for a better quality of life. I’m excited to be part of this journey.”
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers saw its stock rise by 3% during morning trading. The company’s shares have increased by 125% since the start of the year.
This announcement comes just months after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded form of semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular weight loss and diabetes medications Ozempic and Wegovy, both manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Hims & Hers sells a month’s supply of this medication for $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 price and Wegovy’s $1,349 cost.
The demand for these expensive brand-name medications has prompted various telehealth platforms to leverage a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded versions of drugs that are in shortage. Compounding is the practice of customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to meet an individual patient’s specific needs.
Generally, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act does not allow the compounding of drugs that replicate commercially available medications. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not classify drugs in shortage as commercially available.
In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Schultz expressed confidence in the company’s future in selling compounded semaglutide. When asked about the availability of compounded semaglutide after shortages resolve, he noted that there would still be cases requiring personalized prescriptions, alleviating his concerns.