Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform popular among millennials, announced the addition of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors. Schultz, who has over 25 years of experience at the Danish pharmaceutical firm, where he held various leadership roles including president and chief operating officer, is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz expressed his excitement 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.” His comments come as Hims & Hers stock experienced a 3% increase during morning trading, maintaining a remarkable 125% rise since the start of the year.
This announcement follows Hims & Hers’ recent initiative to provide customers with a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in widely known diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, which are produced by Novo Nordisk. The company is offering a month’s supply of this weight loss medication at $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s list price of nearly $1,000 and Wegovy’s price of $1,349.
The current shortage of these sought-after drugs has enabled several telehealth platforms to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded versions of medications when they are in short supply. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to meet individual patient needs.
While the Act generally restricts compounding drugs that replicate commercially available medications, the FDA does not classify drugs in shortage as commercially available. Schultz commented to Bloomberg that the company envisions a “long future” in selling compounded semaglutide, adding that he is not concerned about pharmacies continuing to offer it once the shortages end, as there will still be situations requiring individualized prescriptions.