The telehealth platform Hims & Hers, which caters primarily to millennials, announced the appointment of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors on Monday.
With over 25 years of experience at the Danish pharmaceutical company renowned for its diabetes and obesity treatments, Schultz has held various positions, including president and chief operating officer. He currently serves as the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
Schultz expressed enthusiasm about his new role, stating, “Hims & Hers is on a trajectory to upend the healthcare industry. In my long career in the pharmaceutical industry, 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. I’m thrilled to be a part of this journey.”
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers saw a 3% increase in its stock price, bringing its year-to-date gains to 125%.
This development comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering customers a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient found in popular diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk. The company is providing a month’s supply of this weight loss treatment for $199, significantly lower than the list prices of Ozempic and Wegovy, which are nearly $1,000 and $1,349, respectively.
The scarcity of these high-demand brand name drugs has prompted several telehealth providers to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded versions of medications experiencing shortages. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by licensed pharmacists or physicians to meet individual patient needs.
While the Act generally prohibits the compounding of drugs that are merely replicas of commercially available medications, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not classify drugs that are in shortage as commercially available.
In a conversation with Bloomberg, Schultz commented on the company’s prospects for compounded semaglutide, affirming that there is a “long future” ahead for this product line, and expressed confidence that even after shortages are resolved, individualized prescriptions will continue to be a necessity.