Unlock Editor’s Digest Lock for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf will select your favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Novo Nordisk has ended its partnership with US Telehealth Group Hims & Hers after accusing the apparently marketing copycat version of the blockbuster Wegovy weight loss drug and accusing them of significantly lowering their shares in both companies.
The Danish pharmaceutical group said on Monday it ended its collaboration with HIMS & HERS Health, announced in April to distribute Wegovy.
HIMS & HERS stocks fell nearly 30% on the news, but have risen 74% since the start of the year. NOVO stocks fell by 7%.
Conflicts are related to the practice of “compound interest.” This is the preparation of custom-made drugs using active ingredients that replicate them with patented drugs but sourced elsewhere.
The combined version of obesity and diabetes medication flourished when the Food and Drug Administration allowed the pharmacy to be built following the official declaration of shortages of Novo Wegovy and Ozempic and rival Eli Lilly’s Zepbound in 2022.
Novo has notified the pharmacy to work with HIMS & HERS and other telehealth companies to promote Wegovy sales and stop selling the compounded version after the FDA declared a shortage earlier this year.
Novo accused HIMS & HERS of failing to comply with laws prohibiting the mass sale of combined drugs “under the misguided “of “personalization”” and “promoting deceptive marketing that puts patient safety at risk.”
“Novo Nordisk sticks to our position and protects patients living in obese,” said Dave Moore, executive vice president of the company’s US business. “We will work with Telehealth Companies to provide direct access to Wegovy, which shares our commitment to patient safety.”
Hims & Hers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The US company, which has seen its stocks surge over the past year as it benefited from the US obesity treatment market, announced this month that it had purchased London-based Telehealth rival Zava, indicating it is exploring replica weight loss treatment offerings in the UK and Europe.
Novo’s spat with Hims & Hers is the latest blow to the Danish company, after the sudden exit of CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen in May.
The collapse of HIMS & HERS uses TeleHealth Companies to boost Wegovy’s sales, avoiding the strategy that investors fear that they are losing Lily’s market share. Shareholders are also concerned that Novo’s new drug pipeline is not as strong as its competitors. Novo stock has dropped more than half over the past year.
This month’s American Diabetes Association Conference NOVO has published promising early results from a trial of Amycretin, a new obesity drug. We also published more detailed data on Cagrisema, another obese drug candidate. Preliminary test results released late last year showed that they missed their weight loss goals and disappointed the market.
