Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform catering to millennials, announced the addition of Kåre Schultz, a seasoned executive from Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors on Monday.
Schultz boasts over 25 years of experience at Novo Nordisk, a leading Danish pharmaceutical company known for its diabetes and obesity treatments, where he held various roles, including president and chief operating officer. Currently, he is the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a statement, Schultz expressed optimism about Hims & Hers, stating, “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 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.”
Hims & Hers saw a 3% increase in stock price during morning trading, with shares rising 125% since the start of the year.
This development comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, an active ingredient in the popular diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk. The telehealth platform is pricing a month’s supply of the weight loss drug at $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 list price and Wegovy’s $1,349 price tag.
The high demand and limited supply of these expensive brand-name drugs have prompted several telehealth companies to utilize a provision of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which 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 individual patient needs.
Generally, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act restricts the compounding of drugs that are mere replicas of commercially available medications. However, drugs deemed in short supply by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are not classified as commercially available.
Schultz remarked to Bloomberg that Hims & Hers has a promising future in providing compounded semaglutide. When queried about the viability of compounded semaglutide after supply shortages are resolved, Schultz expressed confidence that there will still be circumstances necessitating individualized prescriptions.