Telehealth platform Hims & Hers has announced the appointment of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors. Schultz has a long history in the pharmaceutical industry, having spent over 25 years at Novo Nordisk in various leadership positions, including president and chief operating officer. He is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a statement, Schultz expressed his enthusiasm for 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. I’m thrilled to be a part of this journey.”
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers stock increased by 3% in morning trading, bringing the company’s share price up 125% since the start of the year.
The news comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the widely used diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, both manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The company is selling a month’s supply of this weight loss medication for $199, significantly lower than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 price and Wegovy’s $1,349.
The scarcity of these high-demand brand-name drugs has led several telehealth platforms to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded medications when the originals are in shortage. Compounding allows state-licensed pharmacists or physicians to customize an approved drug to meet individual patient needs.
While the FDA generally prohibits the compounding of drugs that are mere copies of commercially available ones, drugs classified as in shortage are not considered commercially available. Schultz mentioned to Bloomberg that he sees a “long future” for the compounded semaglutide, and he is confident that the ability to create individualized prescriptions will continue even after the shortages are resolved.