Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform targeting millennials, announced the addition of Kåre Schultz, a seasoned executive from Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors on Monday. Schultz has a 25-year history with the Danish pharmaceutical company, where he held various positions, including president and chief operating officer. He is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz expressed enthusiasm for joining Hims & Hers, stating, “The company is on a trajectory to upend the healthcare 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.”
Following this news, Hims & Hers stock saw a 3% increase during morning trading, bringing its year-to-date growth to an impressive 125%. This announcement follows Hims & Hers’ recent move to provide customers with a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s well-known diabetes and weight loss medications, Ozempic and Wegovy.
Hims & Hers is offering a monthly supply of the medication at $199, significantly lower than the list prices of Ozempic, nearly $1,000, and Wegovy, which costs $1,349.
The demand for these high-priced medications, coupled with limited supply, has encouraged several telehealth platforms to exploit a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded medications during shortages. Compounding involves customizing a drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to suit an individual patient’s needs.
Although the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act generally prohibits the compounding of drugs that are mere replicas of available medications, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not categorize drugs in shortage as commercially available.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Schultz mentioned that the company anticipates a “long future” in the market for compounded semaglutide. When asked about the possibility of pharmacies continuing to produce compounded semaglutide after shortages have subsided, he remarked that he wasn’t concerned, as there will still be instances where patients require personalized prescriptions.