Telehealth company scraps plans to sell cheap GLP-1 diet pill after FDA vows crackdown

Hims & Hers announced they are scrapping plans to sell a compounded version of the weight loss drug Wegovy after federal regulators vowed to take action against the telehealth provider.

“Since launching the compounded semaglutide pill on our platform, we’ve had constructive conversations with stakeholders across the industry. As a result, we have decided to stop offering access to this treatment,” the company said.

Compounding is a process by which pharmacies mix medicines in order to create copies of name-brand drugs at different dosages, and it has become increasingly popular as Americans seek cheaper alternatives for medicine.

At $49 for first-time users, Hims & Hers weight loss pill would have been the cheapest GLP-1 on the market. Novo Nordisk sells a GLP-1 pill for $149 and Eli Lilly is expected to debut a pill on the upcoming TrumpRx website.

Shares in Novo Nordisk plummeted after the telehealth retailer’s announcement, dropping to their lowest levels since 2021, and the company threatened a harsh response.

“Novo Nordisk will take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, our intellectual property and the integrity of the U.S. gold-standard drug approval framework,” Novo spokeswoman Ambre James-Brown said Thursday.

Compounding is legal in narrow circumstances, such as during a drug shortage or if a doctor prescribes a specific dose to address patient side effects. Hims drug was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and did not undergo clinical trials.

The FDA vowed to take swift action against the company, threatening to restrict access to the drug’s ingredients and referring Hims & Hers to the Department of Justice.

“[The FDA will] use all available compliance and enforcement tools within its authorities to address unsubstantiated claims and associated public health concerns,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a statement Friday.

Hims stock dropped 14% Friday after the FDA’s announcement.

“No one should be mass-compounding or selling knockoff GLP-1 products regardless of how they’re administered,” an Eli Lilly spokesperson told Reuters in a statement.

With Post wires.