Hims & Hers Welcomes Pharma Veteran: What’s Next for Telehealth?

Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform catering to millennials, announced on Monday the addition of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors.

Schultz boasts over 25 years of experience at the Danish pharmaceutical company, renowned for its diabetes and obesity treatments, where he held 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 company 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.” He highlighted the company’s potential to transform the healthcare industry.

Following the announcement, Hims & Hers’ stock rose by 3% in morning trading, with a significant 125% increase since the start of the year.

This development arrives shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in well-known diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, both manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Hims & Hers is selling a month’s supply of this weight loss medication for $199, significantly lower than the near $1,000 price tag for Ozempic and $1,349 for Wegovy.

The limited availability of these sought-after brand-name medications has led several telehealth platforms to leverage a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, allowing for the sale of compounded versions of drugs that are in shortage.

Compounding involves customizing an approved medication by a licensed pharmacist or physician to address specific patient needs. Although the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act generally restricts the compounding of drugs that are merely replicas of commercially available ones, drugs deemed in shortage are not classified as commercially available by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Schultz indicated that Hims & Hers has a “long future” in selling compounded semaglutide. He added that he is not concerned about the ability of pharmacies to continue making compounded semaglutide after shortages resolve, as individualized prescriptions will still be necessary for some patients.

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