Shares in Novo Nordisk rose 8% on Monday after Hims & Hers announced it would pull counterfeit weight loss drugs from the market.
Novo Nordisk, the maker of WeGoBe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had threatened legal action against telemedicine company Hims & Hers. Hims & Hers announced over the weekend that it would no longer sell WeGoBe knockoffs for a minimum price of $49, about $100 less than Novo sells its branded pills on its direct-to-consumer platform, NovoCare.
“Since launching combination semaglutide tablets on our platform, we have had constructive conversations with stakeholders across the industry,” Hims & Hers posted on social media on Saturday. “As a result, we have decided to discontinue providing access to this treatment. We remain committed to the millions of Americans who depend on us for access to safe, affordable and personalized care.”
News of the $49 Wegovy copy put Novo ahead of both its main rivals. Eli Lilly Stock the tank on Thursday. Meanwhile, his shares soared on the news, only to have their profits later shaved off by Novo’s threat of legal action.
Novo shares rose 8.2% in early Monday trading, but the stock is still down nearly 50% over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, Hymes stock fell 13.6.4% in pre-market trading, and Lilly stock fell 2.4%.
Novo Nordisk’s stock price has fallen over the past year, due in part to competitive pressure from companies such as Eli Lilly and Hims & Hers.
Hims has made huge profits selling so-called combination versions of injectable semaglutide under a regulatory loophole that allows other companies to sell counterfeit versions of the drug if there is a shortage of the branded drug.
Novo’s best-selling drug, semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wigovy and Ozempic), has previously faced shortages in both the U.S. and Europe as demand far outstripped supply during the early days of the GLP-1 boom. Since then, Novo has strengthened its manufacturing capabilities and resolved supply constraints, including acquiring fill-and-finish manufacturer Catalent for $16.5 billion.
No shortages have been reported of the pill, which was launched in January this year.
On Friday, the FDA said it intends to take “decisive steps” to restrict such practices by compounding pharmacies, including Hims. “These actions are intended to protect consumers from drugs whose quality, safety, and effectiveness cannot be verified by the FDA,” the regulator said in a statement.
Hims’ semaglutide is not approved by the FDA, and the agency also said it would crack down on “misleading direct-to-consumer advertising.”
“Companies may not claim in promotional materials that a non-FDA-approved combination product is a generic version or the same as an FDA-approved drug.”
Novo has cited a tough U.S. market, including compound interest rates, as the reason for the slowdown in sales. Novo expects both sales and profits to decline between 5% and 13% in 2026.
Novo announced Thursday that it will take legal action against Hims.
“Him’s & Hers’ actions amount to illegal mass compounding and pose a significant risk to patient safety,” the company said in a statement. “This is another example of Hims & Hers’ historic conduct to deceive the American public with GLP-1 counterfeits, and the FDA has previously warned Hims & Hers about deceptive advertising of GLP-1 counterfeits.”
—CNBC’s Laya Neelakandan contributed to this article
