Telehealth company Hims & Hers announced on Monday the appointment of Kåre Schultz, a former executive at Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors. Schultz, who has spent over 25 years at the Danish pharmaceutical company known for diabetes and obesity medications, currently serves as the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz expressed excitement about joining 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.” He highlighted the company’s potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry.
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers experienced a 3% rise in stock price during Monday morning trading. Since the start of the year, the company’s shares have surged by 125%.
This update comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the well-known diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which are manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The telehealth platform is providing a month’s supply of this weight loss medication for $199, significantly lower than the nearly $1,000 price for Ozempic and $1,349 for Wegovy.
The ongoing shortage of these sought-after and costly brand-name medications has led several telehealth services to utilize a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that allows the sale of compounded medications when original drugs are in short supply. Compounding involves pharmacists or physicians customizing an approved drug to meet individual patient needs.
While the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act typically restricts the compounding of drugs that mimic commercially available medications, the FDA does not classify drugs that are in shortage as commercially available.
Schultz mentioned to Bloomberg that Hims & Hers sees a “long future” in offering compounded semaglutide. He also noted that he is not concerned about the ability of pharmacies to continue making compounded semaglutide post-shortage, as individualized prescriptions will still be necessary for certain patients.