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 company known for its diabetes and obesity treatments, is currently serving as the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a statement, Schultz expressed enthusiasm about 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 stock rose by 3%, marking a 125% increase since the start of the year. The timing of this news coincides with the company’s recent introduction of a compounded version of semaglutide, an active ingredient in popular diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk.
Hims & Hers offers a month’s supply of this weight loss medication at $199, which is significantly less than the almost $1,000 price of Ozempic and $1,349 for Wegovy. The shortage of these high-demand drugs has prompted several telehealth companies to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, allowing them to sell compounded versions of medications that are temporarily unavailable.
Compounding involves tailoring an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to meet an individual patient’s specific needs. Although the act typically doesn’t allow for the compounding of medications that are merely copies of commercially available drugs, those in shortage do not fall under this restriction per the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Schultz indicated that Hims & Hers envisions a “long future” in the compounded semaglutide market and reassured that custom compounding would remain relevant, even after current shortages are resolved, due to the ongoing need for individualized prescriptions.