Novo Nordisk plunges 8%, Hims launches low-cost generic drugs

Remote healthcare company Hims & Hers Health has launched a generic version of Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy tablets, priced significantly lower than the brand drug. The first month costs $49, followed by $99 per month, while Novo Nordisk’s brand drug has an initial monthly fee of $149.

Following this announcement, Novo Nordisk’s ADR stock price plummeted over 8%. Novo Nordisk issued a statement accusing Hims of “illegal large-scale compounding,” posing significant risks to patients, and threatened to take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, intellectual property, and the U.S. drug approval framework.

Hims argued that its generic tablets use a “different formulation and delivery system” and are not an essential copy of Wegovy. The company also stated that criticisms from pharmaceutical companies about its business are “predictable, outdated, and false.”

The dispute mainly centers on the drug formulation technology. Novo Nordisk claims its tablets use proprietary technology to protect the active ingredient semaglutide from stomach acid erosion to aid absorption, asserting that without this technology, the drug “simply wouldn’t work.” Hims, on the other hand, claims its tablets also use a formulation that protects the active ingredient from being destroyed during digestion.

Hims and Novo Nordisk briefly collaborated to offer discounts on weight loss injections, but Novo Nordisk ended the partnership in less than two months, accusing Hims of using “deceptive marketing” to sell a generic version of Wegovy.