Telehealth platform Hims & Hers announced on Monday the addition 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, known for its diabetes and obesity medications, where he held various positions including president and chief operating officer. Currently, he 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.”
On the announcement, Hims & Hers stock increased by 3% in Monday morning trading. Since the start of the year, the company’s shares have surged by 125%.
This development follows Hims & Hers’ recent offering of a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular weight loss and diabetes medications Ozempic and Wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk. Hims & Hers is providing a month’s supply of the weight loss medication at a price of $199, significantly lower than the nearly $1,000 list price of Ozempic and the $1,349 cost of Wegovy.
The demand for these high-priced brand-name drugs has prompted several telehealth platforms to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that allows for the sale of compounded versions of medications facing shortages. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to suit individual patient needs.
While the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act typically prohibits the compounding of drugs that are mere replicas of commercially available medications, those that are in shortage are not classified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as commercially available.
In a conversation with Bloomberg, Schultz indicated that Hims & Hers has a promising future in selling compounded semaglutide. When asked about the continuation of compounded semaglutide sales after the shortages end, Schultz expressed confidence, noting the ongoing need for individualized prescriptions among patients.