Hims & Hers Welcomes Pharma Veteran: A New Chapter in Telehealth?

The telehealth platform Hims & Hers, which caters primarily to millennials, announced on Monday the addition of Kåre Schultz to its board of directors. Schultz is a seasoned executive, having worked for over 25 years at Novo Nordisk, a Danish pharmaceutical leader renowned for its diabetes and obesity treatments, where he served as president and chief operating officer. He currently holds the position of CEO at Teva Pharmaceutical.

In a press release, Schultz expressed enthusiasm about joining Hims & Hers, stating, “This company is leveraging modern tools to 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 shares rose by 3% during Monday morning trading, and they have seen a remarkable increase of 125% since the start of the year.

This development coincides with Hims & Hers recently starting to offer a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, both of which are produced by Novo Nordisk. Hims & Hers is offering a month’s supply of this weight loss medication for $199, significantly lower than the nearly $1,000 list price of Ozempic and the $1,349 price tag of Wegovy.

The demand for these high-priced brand name drugs has prompted several telehealth platforms to leverage a provision of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that allows for the sale of compounded versions of medications that are in short supply. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a state-licensed pharmacist or physician to meet the needs of individual patients.

While the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act generally prohibits compounding drugs that are merely duplicates of commercially available medications, the FDA does not classify drugs in shortage as commercially available. Schultz indicated in an interview that Hims & Hers anticipates a long-term future in selling compounded semaglutide, and he expressed confidence that pharmacies would continue to provide compounded versions for patients with specific needs, even after shortages are resolved.

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