Shares of telehealth company Hims & Hers skyrocketed Monday after the company struck a deal with Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk to sell its GLP-1 weight-loss medications, ending the feud between the companies.
The agreement will allow Hims & Hers, which is popular for selling lifestyle medications directly to consumers, to avoid the regulatory problems it has encountered in recent weeks.
Hims & Hers stock increased by nearly 40% within an hour of trading opening on Monday morning, following Friday’s announcement that the telehealth company would begin selling Wegovy, Novo Nordisk’s popular obesity management medication.
Hims & Hers began selling compounded versions of Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 weight-loss medication in 2024, during the height of the shortage.
Unlike generic drugs, which are made after the original drug’s patent expires, compounded medications are medications made by pharmacists that function effectively the same as the original patented drug. But compounded drugs are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Tensions between Hims & Hers and Novo Nordisk escalated in early February after the former announced it would sell a compounded version of Wegovy at one-third of the price.
Shortly after the announcement about the Hims & Hers GLP-1 pill, the FDA announced that it would take legal action against companies that mass-market “illegal copycat drugs,” causing the company’s stock price to tumble.
But the deal between Hims & Hers and Novo Nordisk has been speculated to help the telehealth provider recoup its losses from the fiasco earlier this year.
Hims & Hers was up nearly 14% over the past month within an hour of trading opening on Monday. Novo Nordisk stock remained stable, increasing by less than a percentage point.
Hims & Hers reportedly still intends to sell the branded Wegovy pill at a fraction of the price set by Novo Nordisk. It will sell the Wegovy pill at $99 per month, compared to Novo Nordisk’s price of $149 per month.
CONTROVERSIAL FDA VACCINE CHIEF TO LEAVE AGENCY
FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary celebrated the agreement between the two healthcare companies on X on Monday morning, calling it “a win for the American people.”
“Glad to see HIMS will stop advertising unapproved compounded drugs and instead sell FDA-approved products through its new partnership with Novo Nordisk,” Makary said. “Importantly, they will keep them affordable (no increase in price) and limit compounded GLP-1s for rare (FDA compliant) cases.”
