Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform aimed at millennials, announced on Monday the addition of Kåre Schultz to its board of directors. Schultz has a lengthy background in the pharmaceutical industry, having spent over 25 years at Novo Nordisk, where he held various roles including president and chief operating officer. He is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
Schultz expressed his enthusiasm for Hims & Hers in a press release, stating, “This company is on a trajectory to upend the healthcare industry. I’ve never seen a company leverage modern tools to fundamentally change how people access crucial health solutions.” He is excited to join the team as they aim to transform healthcare access.
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers saw its stock rise by 3% during morning trading, bringing the company’s shares up by 125% since the start of the year.
This news comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the well-known diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk. Hims & Hers is offering a month’s supply of the weight loss medication for $199, significantly lower than the retail prices of Ozempic, which is nearly $1,000, and Wegovy’s $1,349.
The shortage of these highly sought-after and costly brand-name drugs has led various telehealth platforms to exploit a provision of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that allows the sale of compounded medications when there is a shortage. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist to meet individual patient needs.
Although compounding drugs that replicate available medications is generally prohibited by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not classify drugs in shortage as commercially available.
Schultz remarked to Bloomberg that he anticipates a “long future” for the company in providing compounded semaglutide. He expressed confidence that pharmacies would continue to be able to supply compounded semaglutide even after shortages are resolved, as individual patients will still require customized prescriptions.