Telehealth platform Hims & Hers has announced the addition of Kåre Schultz, a veteran executive from Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors. Schultz, who has over 25 years of experience with the Danish pharmaceutical giant, currently serves as the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz expressed his enthusiasm for joining Hims & Hers, stating, “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.”
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers saw its stock rise by 3% during Monday morning trading, marking a 125% increase since the start of the year.
This development comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, the ingredient found in well-known diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, which are produced by Novo Nordisk. Hims & Hers sells a month’s supply of its weight loss medication for $199, significantly cheaper than Ozempic’s list price near $1,000 and Wegovy’s $1,349.
The high demand and limited supply of these brand-name drugs have prompted telehealth companies to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits them to sell compounded versions of medications that are in short supply. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug to meet an individual’s specific needs by a licensed pharmacist or physician.
While the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act generally prohibits compounding drugs that replicate commercially available medications, drugs considered to be in shortage are exempt from this classification according to the FDA.
Schultz indicated to Bloomberg that Hims & Hers has a promising future in the compounded semaglutide market and suggested that even after shortages are resolved, there will remain cases where patients require tailored prescriptions.