As GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic grow in popularity, so too has a kind of alternative: compounded versions of the drugs that promise to have similar effects at a much lower cost. The appeal of that isn’t hard to see — but the lack of regulation has led some users of the compounded versions to fall ill, leading the FDA to clarify its policies earlier this year. Now, compounding is at the center of a dispute between pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk and the telehealth company Hims & Hers.
Earlier this week, Novo Nordisk announced the end of their partnership with Hims & Hers, which allowed customers of the latter to purchase Wegovy. Novo Nordisk’s announcement stated that Hims & Hers “has failed to adhere to the law which prohibits mass sales of compounded drugs under the false guise of ‘”‘personalization’”‘ and are disseminating deceptive marketing that put patient safety at risk.”
Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum pushed back against the accusations on a post on social media. “In recent weeks, Novo Nordisk’s commercial team increasingly pressured us to control clinical standards and steer patients to Wegovy regardless of whether it was clinically best for patients,” he wrote. “We refuse to be strong-armed by any pharmaceutical company’s anticompetitive demands that infringe on the independent decision making of providers and limit patient choice.”
We’re Getting Closer to Edible GLP-1 Drugs Being Available
Pharmaceutical companies are working on itAt least in the short term, Hims & Hers may suffer more from the abrupt end of the deal than Novo Nordisk. Writing at Business Insider, Shubhangi Goel noted that Hims & Hers’ stock price dropped dramatically on Monday after Novo Nordisk ended the arrangement. That said, the stock has risen in the subsequent days.
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