Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | AP
The stock of Hims & Hers dropped in premarket trading early Friday after a legal threat from Novo Nordisk.
The online teleheath company announced on Thursday plans to launch a cheaper, copycat version of Novo’s weight loss pill, prompting Novo to take legal action.
Hims stock spiked as much as 15% on the news in Thursday trading, but quickly pared gains and ended the session down 3.8% at a 12-month low after Novo said the action was “illegal.” Shares fell another 6.7% in premarket trading Friday.
Hims said it will launch a Wegovy-style pill containing the same active ingredient as the original brand, semaglutide, for as little as $49 for the first month when customers sign up for a subscription. After the first month, the price will rise to $99.
That’s significantly lower than the $149 Novo Nordisk sells its starting dose for on its direct-to-consumer website NovoCare.
Hims & Hers stock has been volatile over the past year.
Hims is launching its pill even though semaglutide has patent protection in the U.S. until 2032.
The telehealth firm’s business flourished when it started selling compounded semaglutide in an injectable format, using a loophole in U.S. regulation that allows competitors to sell a drug protected by intellectual property laws if the drug is in short supply.
In the early days of the Wevovy jab, demand significantly outstripped supply, but Novo Nordisk has since invested heavily in manufacturing capacity and resolved the supply issues. There are no shortages reported for the pill version.
Hims says that its versions are “personalized” in dosage, and therefore legal. Novo says the action is illegal and a risk to patient safety.
“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,” Novo said in a statement Thursday.
Hims is a volatile stock, inherently tied to its perceived ability to sell weight loss drugs like its Wegovy copy. Shares have hit highs of $69 and lows of $23 in the past 12 months.
Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny, who rates Hims stock at “Market Perform,” suggested the telehealth provider could also consider launching copycat versions of Eli Lilly’s weight loss drugs. Lilly didn’t respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Meanwhile, Barclays analyst James Gordon called the $49 Wegovy copy a “new concern” for Novo.
“While compounded alternatives may attract cost-sensitive patients in the near term, questions remain about their regulatory sustainability and clinical consistency,” he added.
