Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform catering to millennials, announced on Monday the addition of Kåre Schultz to its board of directors. Schultz is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience at Novo Nordisk, where he held various positions including president and chief operating officer. He currently serves as the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
In a press release, Schultz expressed enthusiasm about 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.” He noted that he has not seen a company like Hims & Hers in his extensive career in the pharmaceutical industry.
On the stock market, shares of Hims & Hers increased by 3% during the morning trading session, and the company’s stock has soared by 125% since the start of the year.
This announcement comes shortly after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded version of semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in the popular diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk. The telehealth platform is selling 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.
Due to the limited availability of these brand-name medications, various telehealth companies are utilizing a provision in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that permits the sale of compounded versions of medications that are in shortage. Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to cater to the specific needs of individual patients.
While the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act typically prohibits the compounding of drugs that are merely replicas of commercially available medications, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not categorize drugs in shortage as commercially available.
Schultz told Bloomberg that Hims & Hers has a promising future in providing compounded semaglutide. When questioned about the ability of pharmacies to continue producing compounded semaglutide after shortages cease, he reassured that there would still be cases where patients require specialized prescriptions.