Novo Nordisk has initiated a legal confrontation against telehealth platform Hims & Hers following its announcement of a drastically cheaper alternative to Novo’s flagship Wegovy weight loss medication.
The pharmaceutical giant asserts it will pursue all available legal avenues to protect its intellectual property, signaling a major clash in the rapidly expanding obesity drug market. This dispute highlights the intensifying tension between established drug manufacturers and digital health companies seeking to disrupt traditional pricing models.
The conflict ignited when Hims & Hers revealed it would offer a compounded semaglutide medication, the same active ingredient in Wegovy, for a monthly price of just $49. This stands in stark contrast to the approximately $1,300 monthly list price for the branded drug, before insurance or manufacturer savings programs. Hims & Hers positions its product as an accessible solution for weight management, directly challenging the high-cost barrier associated with novel GLP-1 receptor agonists.
News of the affordable alternative triggered immediate financial repercussions, causing share prices for both Novo Nordisk and rival Eli Lilly, maker of Zepbound and Mounjaro, to decline. Investors reacted to the potential threat of market disruption and downward pressure on drug pricing from agile telehealth providers. The market response underscores the significant economic stakes involved in the lucrative obesity and type 2 diabetes treatment sector, valued in the tens of billions.
This legal battle raises profound questions about drug access, affordability, and regulatory oversight for compounded versions of patented medications. While compounding pharmacies can legally create copies of drugs in shortage, Novo Nordisk contends its Wegovy supply is now meeting demand, potentially invalidating that pathway. The outcome of this case could set a critical precedent for the future of generic competition, telehealth prescribing practices, and cost containment for blockbuster drugs.
CNBC reported, ” Semaglutide’s patent is protected in the U.S. until 2032, but Hims says its copies are “personalized,” and therefore legal. “This compounded product uses a different formulation and delivery system than FDA-approved oral semaglutide,” Hims said.
Novo Nordisk released this statement in a press release on their website. ”
Novo Nordisk today issued the following statement regarding the announcement by Hims & Hers that they will unlawfully mass-market an unapproved, inauthentic, and untested knockoff semaglutide pill.
“The action by Hims & Hers is illegal mass compounding that poses a significant risk to patient safety. Novo Nordisk will take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, our intellectual property and the integrity of the US gold-standard drug approval framework. This is another example of Hims & Hers’ historic behaviour of duping the American public with knock-off GLP-1 products, and the FDA has previously warned them about their deceptive advertising of GLP-1 knock-offs.
The American Diabetes Association®’s Obesity Association™ recently published new standards of care, which discourage the use of compounded GLP-1s due to safety, quality, and effectiveness concerns.
Only Novo Nordisk manufactures an FDA-approved Wegovy® pill formulated with SNAC technology, which facilitates semaglutide absorption when administered orally. The Wegovy® pill is available in all doses, in full supply, nationwide in the US. Compounded semaglutide is not approved by the FDA and may contain impurities, unnecessary additives, and untested doses.””
