Shares of Hims & Hers Health (NYSE: HIMS) plummeted over 30 percent after Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) announced it was cutting ties with the telehealth company just weeks after the two entered into a distribution agreement for the weight-loss drug Wegovy. The fallout has turned increasingly contentious, with each side accusing the other of undermining the terms and ethics of the partnership.
Originally launched in April, the agreement would have allowed Hims to offer Wegovy as part of a bundled service through its digital health platform. Novo pulled the plug after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially removed semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and other GLP-1 drugs, from its shortage list. With that regulatory change, Novo claimed Hims was no longer in compliance due to its continued sale of compounded semaglutide under what the company described as a false premise of personalization.
Hims, however, disputes that characterization. The company has defended its sales of personalized doses as legal and medically necessary when patients require formulations not otherwise commercially available. In a statement posted on X, CEO Andrew Dudum accused Novo of attempting to pressure Hims into adopting treatment protocols that limit choice for patients and interfere with independent medical decisions.
Despite Novo’s decision, Hims has indicated it will continue to provide Wegovy alongside other semaglutide-based options, including compounded versions. Novo, on the other hand, said its other telehealth partners such as LifeMD and Ro have already transitioned away from compounded alternatives in line with updated FDA guidance.
The break-up comes at a critical time for Hims, which had promoted the Novo partnership as a key milestone in its long-term growth plan. The company has been one of the more aggressive players in the market for compounded GLP-1 therapies, offering semaglutide-based treatments at significantly lower price points. Analysts now warn that losing the Wegovy collaboration could hurt both Hims’ credibility and its customer growth strategy.
Novo stated that Hims failed to align with legal obligations and accused the company of using misleading marketing practices. It remains to be seen how regulators will respond, or how the dispute will influence Hims’ role in a fast-evolving landscape for weight-loss and metabolic health treatments.
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