Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform aimed at millennials, announced on Monday the addition of Kåre Schultz, a veteran executive from Novo Nordisk, to its board of directors.
Schultz has dedicated over 25 years to the Danish pharmaceutical company, which is renowned for its diabetes and obesity treatments, holding various roles including president and chief operating officer. He is currently the CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical.
“Hims & Hers is on a path to transform the healthcare industry,” Schultz stated in a press release. “In my extensive career in the pharmaceutical sector, I have not encountered a company that is effectively utilizing modern tools to dismantle barriers and alter the conventional methods of accessing necessary health solutions for individuals to lead fulfilling lives. I am excited to be part of this journey.”
Following the announcement, Hims & Hers saw a 3% increase in stock value during Monday’s morning trading, with shares rising 125% since the beginning of the year.
This development comes just months after Hims & Hers began offering a compounded formulation of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the well-known diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, both produced by Novo Nordisk.
Hims & Hers is marketing a month’s supply of this weight loss medication for $199, significantly cheaper than Ozempic’s nearly $1,000 list price and Wegovy’s $1,349 cost.
The limited availability of these highly sought-after and expensive brand-name drugs has led several telehealth platforms to capitalize on a provision of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which permits the sale of compounded versions of medications that are in short supply.
Compounding involves customizing an approved drug by a licensed pharmacist or physician to cater to the specific requirements of a patient.
Generally, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act bans the compounding of drugs that are mere replicas of commercially available medications. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not classify drugs in shortage as commercially available.
Schultz informed Bloomberg on Monday that the company envisions a “long future” in providing compounded semaglutide.
When asked whether pharmacies will still be able to produce compounded semaglutide once the shortages are resolved, Schultz expressed confidence that there would still be circumstances requiring individualized prescriptions.