Hims Taps Amazon Vet to Lead Operations as Company Expands
Hims & Hers Health Inc. is tapping former Amazon.com Inc. executive Nader Kabbani to be chief of operations as the telehealth company expands into new areas like blood testing.
Kabbani led the acquisition of PillPack and the launch of Amazon Pharmacy during his nearly two decades at the e-commerce giant, before leaving in 2023 for stints at start-ups Flexport Inc. and Symbiotic Inc. He will replace Melissa Baird, who is stepping into an advisory role after more than seven years with Hims. Baird was the company's 13th employee, joining from web retailers Zulily Inc. and Bonobos Inc., just months after Hims launched in 2017.
Kabbani is 'uniquely qualified to help us build the future of health-care,' Hims chief executive officer Andrew Dudum said in a statement. He's being asked to deliver an 'innovative health-care experience' to patients who use Hims to treat everything from obesity to impotence, Dudum said.
The move is a logical next step for Hims, matching the company's ambition to be a larger, consumer-facing company in health care after posting significant gains from the sale of weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk A/S' Wegovy, Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny said in a note. Still, Hims and Kabbani have work ahead, he said.
'It isn't clear to us where the next leg of growth is going to come from,' Cherny said. 'Hims has a number of initiatives to drive the top line, including branded Wegovy sales, but at this juncture it is too early to gauge their impacts to financials.'
Hims shares were down less than 1 percent at 10:45 a.m. in New York.
In just a few years, Hims has grown from a scrappy startup best known for selling cheap Viagra into a $9 billion telehealth powerhouse. The company's stock has gained more than 230 percent since it began selling cheaper, compounded weight-loss drugs last May when brand-name shots were in short supply. More recently, it's expanded by acquiring a blood-testing company and manufacturing plant.
Large drugmakers that once saw telehealth firms like Hims as competition are now trying to piggyback on their popularity. Last week, Novo said it would sell its popular weight-loss drug Wegovy for a steeply reduced price on several telehealth platforms, including Hims.
Analysts cheered the move as a 'clear win' for Hims that serves as validation of its business model. In an interview last week, Dudum said the Novo partnership is just the first step in what's possible on the Hims platform.
'Hims & Hers is already reaching more people with personalized care than any other platform in the industry, and this is just the beginning,' Kabbani said in a statement.
By Madison Muller
Learn more:
Novo Nordisk to Sell Wegovy Through Telehealth Firms
The drug manufacturer will partner with companies like Hims & Hers and Ro amid a larger crackdown on compounded forms of its GLP-1 drugs.
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