Overview
- Hims & Hers began offering a compounded oral semaglutide pill at an introductory $49 for the first month, then $99 with a five-month subscription, undercutting Novo Nordisk’s $149 starting dose.
- Novo Nordisk called the move illegal mass compounding that risks patient safety and said it will pursue legal and regulatory action to protect its intellectual property and the U.S. drug approval framework.
- The FDA’s leader, Marty Makary, signaled the agency would take swift action against companies mass-marketing illegal copycat drugs, adding regulatory pressure to compounding players.
- Hims says the pill uses the same active ingredient as Wegovy in a different formulation, citing personalization and absorption support and, in later comments, a liposomal technology, while analysts question efficacy without Novo’s SNAC delivery.
- Markets swung on the news as Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly shares fell, Hims initially jumped before closing lower on Thursday and dropping further on Friday, and analysts warned of fresh uncertainty for pricing, enforcement, and patents running through 2032.