Telehealth platform Hims & Hers announced on Monday the appointment of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors. Schultz brings over 25 years of experience from the Danish pharmaceutical company, where he held various positions, including president and chief operating officer, and currently serves as CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz remarked, “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 part of this journey.”
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers saw a 3% increase in stock prices during Monday morning trading, marking a significant rise of 125% 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 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Hims & Hers is pricing a month’s supply of the compounded medication at $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s list price of nearly $1,000 and Wegovy’s $1,349.
The demand for these expensive brand-name drugs has prompted various telehealth platforms to capitalize on a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded medications in shortage. Compounding involves customizing an approved medication by a state-licensed pharmacist or physician to cater to the specific needs of an individual patient.
While the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act generally prohibits the compounding of drugs that merely replicate commercially available ones, the FDA does not classify drugs in shortage as commercially available. Schultz expressed confidence about Hims & Hers having a “long future” in selling compounded semaglutide, indicating that there will still be cases necessitating individualized prescriptions even after shortages are resolved.