Hims & Hers Health got a shot in the arm this week that sent its share prices to near all-time highs.
The San Francisco-based digital pharmacy company, which sells a variety of drugs online and direct to consumers, announced that it would start adding GLP-1 injectable drugs to its offerings, capitalizing on the frenzy around name-brand weight-loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy. The medications that Hims & Hers will make available will be compounded versions of those drugs, containing the same active ingredient, semaglutide.
Hims & Hers customers who want to get the compounded versions will pay roughly 85% less than they would for name-brand versions. And as for availability, here’s what Hims & Hers had to say in a corresponding release:
- Pricing for weight loss medications starts as low as $79/month for oral medication kits and $199/month for compounded GLP-1 injections. Pricing includes unlimited medical consultations with a licensed provider.
- Medications are prescribed based on what medical providers determine is medically appropriate and necessary for each patient.
- Oral medication kits and compounded GLP-1 injections are not available in all states.
The news sent Hims & Hers stock price up considerably on Monday. Shares were trading at around $14.50 on Friday, and on Monday, topped $19.82—an increase of almost 37%. Share prices remain around $18 as of early Tuesday.
The increasing popularity of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic is mostly due to their relative effectiveness in helping people lose weight compared to other methods and treatments. In simple terms, they work by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, which is released by the human body to signal that it’s had enough to eat. It likewise slows the digestion process, making people feel less hungry for longer periods of time.
Interestingly, while Ozempic is evidently proving effective at helping people lose weight, it’s not actually approved for that use. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally approved Ozempic in 2017 as a diabetes treatment. Wegovy, on the other hand, was approved by the FDA as a weight-loss drug in 2021—becoming the first FDA-approved weight-loss treatment to hit the market since 2014.
High demand, short supply
Since those drugs have become more widely available to people looking to lose weight, they’ve been hard to find. A shortage has ensued, which is likely one reason why Hims & Hers is making compounded versions available to customers who may otherwise have a difficult time getting them.
“We’ve leveraged our size and scale to secure access to one of the highest-quality supplies of compounded GLP-1 injections available today,” Andrew Dudum, CEO and cofounder of Hims & Hers, said in the company’s release. “We’re passing that access and value along to our customers, who deserve the highest standard of clinical safety and efficacy to meet their goals, and we’re doing it in a safe, affordable way that others can’t deliver.”