Novo Nordisk Opens Weight Drug to Telehealth
Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) on Tuesday said it will offer its weight loss drug Wegovy through telehealth providers Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIM), Ro and LifeMD to expand access to the blockbuster treatment now that it is no longer in short supply in the U.S.
Shares of Hims & Hers soared $7.43, or 26.1% on Tuesday to $35.91, while Novo Nordisk’s stock rose $2.50, or 4%, to $65.12.
The Danish drugmaker is racing to capture more patients now that many compounding pharmacies are legally restricted from making cheaper, unapproved versions of Wegovy, with rare exceptions.
Patients flocked to those compounded versions while Wegovy was in shortage due to skyrocketing demand.
“We felt it was really important to work hard to establish a collaboration with telehealth companies so that there could be access to Wegovy as the compounding is winding down,” Dave Moore, executive vice president of U.S. operations at Novo Nordisk, told the media.
“We’re really pleased about the level of interest to access branded Wegovy and to start to sort of catch people as they come off of compounded medicine,” he said.