Novo Nordisk's fling with Hims & Hers ends in a bust-up

The alliance between Novo Nordisk and telehealth company Hims & Hers for the distribution of GLP-1 agonist weight-loss therapies has ended in acrimony.

In a statement, Novo Nordisk said that it was terminating the collaboration "due to concerns about their illegal mass compounding and deceptive marketing" of what it claimed were "illegitimate, knockoff versions" of its obesity therapy Wegovy (semaglutide).

Hims & hers has bitten back, with chief executive Andrew Dudum asserting in a social media post that Novo Nordisk had been trying to exert influence to steer patients to treatment with Wegovy, "regardless of whether it was clinically best for patients," adding: "We refuse to be strong-armed by any pharmaceutical company's anticompetitive demands that infringe on the independent decision making of providers and limit patient choice."

The breakdown in the relationship comes less than two months after it was formally announced, and just four weeks after Hims & Hers announced a new six-month package for Wegovy at $549 per month.

Shares in the telehealth company fell by a third after the row broke out, while Novo Nordisk also weakened by 5% – possibly because the alliance had been viewed as an important channel for direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales of Wegovy as it faces a strong challenge in the market from Eli Lilly's rival Zepbound (tirzepatide) – but quickly regained that ground.

Novo Nordisk is retaining alliances signed at the same time with two other telehealth companies, LifeMD and Ro, which followed the removal of semaglutide from the FDA's shortages list, which meant that third-party companies were no longer able to sell compounded versions of the drug. That restriction had been challenged in the courts, but was upheld by a US judge last week.

Novo Nordisk maintains that Hims & Hers has "failed to adhere to the law, which prohibits mass sales of compounded drugs under the false guise of 'personalisation' and are disseminating deceptive marketing that puts patient safety at risk."

Other telehealth partners have made efforts to switch from compounded versions of Wegovy to the brand name product supplied through the pharma company's NovoCare Pharmacy channel, said the company.

"Novo Nordisk is firm on our position and protecting patients living with obesity. When patients are prescribed semaglutide treatments by their licensed healthcare professional or a telehealth provider, they are entitled to receive authentic, FDA-approved and regulated Wegovy," said Dave Moore, Novo Nordisk's head of US operations.

"We will work with telehealth companies to provide direct access to Wegovy that share our commitment to patient safety – and when companies engage in illegal sham compounding that jeopardises the health of Americans, we will continue to take action."

Previously, the two companies had traded blows over Hims & Hers advertising that ran during this year's Super Bowl and accused the pharma industry of selling weight-loss drugs at unreasonably high prices, urging people to turn to its own semaglutide products on the grounds that they were "accessible, affordable, doctor-trusted, and formulated in the USA."

Photo by Stephen Harlan on Unsplash