Hims & Hers and Novo Nordisk have officially put down swords. After years of public feuding, the two companies have reached an agreement to sell Novo’s branded GLP-1 weight loss and diabetes drugs through Hims’ telemedicine platform.
Later this month, Hims will begin selling multiple doses of both Novo’s injectables Ozempic and Wigovy, as well as the newly launched Wigovy pill, to U.S. patients at “the same affordable out-of-pocket prices as other telemedicine platforms,” Novo announced Monday.
At the same time, the telemedicine company will stop advertising its list of compounded GLP-1 drugs, giving existing patients the opportunity to discuss with their healthcare provider and transition to a branded version.
Hims believes that by “aligning domestic and international models in weight loss,” it can become “the world’s largest consumer health platform with access to approved medicines at more affordable prices,” the company said in a March 9 press release about the deal.
In a company release, Novo CEO Mike Doustdar called the deal with Hims a “meaningful win” for patients.
“By expanding access through leading telehealth providers and digital care platforms, we are helping bring FDA-approved medicines that have been evaluated for safety and effectiveness to more people,” Dusdahl said. “We all want better health.”
He continued: “Our goal is simple: to ensure that all patients who benefit from our medicines have access to them, wherever they choose to receive treatment.”
Meanwhile, Hims is “thrilled to have a great partner in Novo Nordisk as we work to develop new models that serve everyday people,” co-founder Andrew Dadum said in a company statement.
Himes said the new duo also hopes to collaborate on future products with the aim of “further expanding the range of innovative treatments that healthcare providers can choose from on the platform.” For now, Hims plans to grant access to formulated GLP-1 to a “limited group” of patients whose needs cannot be met by a range of branded products.
The deal gives Hims access to 2.5 million new subscribers and has the potential for “significant growth” in prescription volumes, Rajiv Leventhal, a health care analyst at the e-marketer, said in a note to clients as Novo Inc. steadily loses dominance in obesity drug sales to rival Eli Lilly & Co.
“Both companies desperately needed this as their stock prices have fallen more than 50% over the past year,” Leventhal said. “There is no guarantee that the partnership will be successful or long-term. But for now, this is a necessary partnership for both companies, and there are few other options.”
Hims has always been a thorn in the side for Novo, representing one of the more publicly traded companies to take advantage of the complicated GLP-1 boom caused by shortages in the early days of Novo and Lilly’s metabolic drugs. Novo and Lilly’s GLP-1 for diabetes and obesity is no longer in short supply, but the widespread industry of synthetic weight loss drugs is difficult to eradicate in the United States, prompting repeated lawsuits and safety warnings from Novo and Lilly.
Hims previously ran its own ads featuring branded GLP-1 drug pricing practices. Novo has recently made several moves to lower the list and cash-pay prices for Ozempic and Wegovy, recently debuting Wegovy pills at a starting price of $149 per month for cash-pay patients.
Hims ran into trouble earlier this year when it tried to sell a counterfeit version of Novo’s Wigovy tablets shortly after its January 5 release. But the telemedicine company ultimately backed away after receiving a lawsuit from Novo, a reprimand from the FDA, and the threat of a Justice Department investigation. Under the new agreement, Novo will dismiss its patent infringement lawsuit against the telemedicine company, while “reserving the right to refile the lawsuit in the future.”
The FDA has recently focused on mass marketing of compounded GLP-1 drugs, with Commissioner Marty McCurry, MD, pledging to take “swift action” against companies that improperly promote their counterfeit products. The agency stepped up its enforcement efforts earlier this month by sending 30 warning letters to telemedicine companies that were making “false or misleading claims” about Novo and Lilly’s combination of popular obesity drugs.
McCurry said on social media that through the partnership with Novo, he was “pleased to see HIMS stop promoting unapproved combination drugs and instead sell FDA-approved products.” The FDA commissioner added that he hopes the agreement will keep the price of GLP-1 affordable while limiting formulations in the class to “rare (FDA-compliant) cases.”
