Latest news with #AndrewDudum
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hims (HIMS) Jumps 8.6% as Firm Still Open to Work With Novo
We recently published . Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE:HIMS) is one of Monday's top performers. Hims & Hers bounced back by 8.64 percent on Monday to close at $52.03 following announcements that it remains open to working with Novo Nordisk in the future despite the termination of its earlier partnership. Novo Nordisk, maker of blockbuster drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, terminated its deal with Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE:HIMS) in June over allegations that the latter failed to adhere to federal laws that prohibit mass sales of compounded drugs under the false guise of 'personalization.' Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE:HIMS) has been selling knockoff versions of the drugs for years amid strong demand, but was this year ordered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to stop due to a now sufficient supply. A nurse in a telehealth platform talking with a patient on video call for consultation. After the termination, Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE:HIMS) CEO Andrew Dudum said he was upset that Novo Nordisk felt the pressure over the knockoff version, but said that there was 'no way in hell we're going to cave on that.' Based on its historical reporting dates, Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE:HIMS) will report its earnings results for the second quarter in the first week of August 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of HIMS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
How Hims Became the King of Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs
George's Donuts & Merriment is the kind of spot locals line up outside on the weekend, where you can order a flight of 'fried-to-order' sugar-dusted doughnut holes served with Valrhona chocolate fudge sauce. On this sunny morning in March, the French bistro-style cafe in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood is bustling with stroller-pushing moms eyeing the glass case filled with treats including strawberry Champagne brioche and buttermilk old-fashioned cake doughnuts. This hedonist destination also happens to be the co-creation of Andrew Dudum, chief executive officer of the telehealth company Hims & Hers Health Inc., which for more than a year has been selling GLP-1s, America's most coveted weight-loss drugs. Dudum—a fit, meticulously groomed 37-year-old—is sitting at the white marble counter wearing a corduroy baseball cap, a quilted jacket and off-white Converse sneakers, digging into a cottage cheese parfait while playing with ChatGPT on his phone. He's been asking the app questions such as 'Can I leave chicken out for three hours?' and 'Viking stock price analysis'—Viking Therapeutics Inc. is a San Diego-based company developing its own weight-loss shots. Dudum, himself a GLP-1 microdoser (according to Silicon Valley longevity devotees, the drugs can potentially increase your lifespan), has also loaded his labs into ChatGPT, asking it for health advice so he can become 'super optimized.' He and his wife, Lea, opened George's in January. Turns out it's a lot harder to make money from doughnuts than from weight-loss drugs. 'Thank God we have other jobs,' he says.
Washington Post
14-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
The unlikely pact and breakup of a drugmaker and a telehealth star
When telehealth executive Andrew Dudum received a email wishing him a happy Father's Day last month, he took it as a sign of the strong relationship he'd cultivated with a key partner. He did not see the signs that it was about to implode. The sender was Dave Moore, the top U.S. executive for Novo Nordisk, the Denmark-based manufacturer of blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy. In a surprising move, Novo Nordisk joined forces in April with Dudum's telehealth company, Hims & Hers, in a bid to expand sales of Wegovy to the growing pool of online patients. It was an unlikely partnership from the start. Hims & Hers was selling an imitation version of Wegovy — a practice that Novo Nordisk had scorned as illegal and unsafe. But both sides appeared to have set aside their differences when they announced their deal for Hims & Hers to carry discounted Wegovy on April 29. Less than two months later, the collaboration blew up. Dudum, in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, recounted the tale of the short-lived marriage, from a celebratory dinner in Princeton, New Jersey to growing tensions in mid-June, to a breakup via press release. Dudum said Novo Nordisk's tone changed overnight as it demanded that Hims & Hers stop offering its pharmacy-made weight-loss drug — a significant part of Hims & Hers' business. 'It was email after email of, 'What are you going to do?'' said Dudum, who considered the demands inappropriate. 'We were just kind of shocked.' The crack-up has emerged as the latest front in the brawl over consumers' access to cheaper, imitation versions of the most popular weight-loss drugs on the market. While Novo Nordisk has pushed aggressively to end the business of copycat weight-loss drugs, the dispute with Hims & Hers shows the fight isn't yet over and could be headed for the courts. Novo Nordisk raised the potential for litigation against the telehealth company in a statement, saying that it ended the partnership over concerns about the legality and safety of Hims & Hers' off-brand weight-loss offering. 'I was definitely surprised by how quickly the relationship soured,' said Ryan MacDonald, an analyst for Needham & Co. He assumed the companies had worked through their differences before joining forces. 'Clearly, that wasn't the case,' he said. The Danish drugmaker, with its buttoned-up culture, and the splashy San Francisco telehealth provider, were not natural allies. Novo Nordisk, whose roots trace to the 1920s, helped ignite the frenzy for weight-loss drugs with semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic. Hims & Hers, which got its start selling drugs for erectile dysfunction and hair loss, became a publicly traded company in 2021. Dudum casts the telehealth firm as a health care disrupter on the scale of Netflix, aiming to disrupt Big Pharma. Starting last year, Novo Nordisk and Hims & Hers staked out opposite sides in a dispute over weight-loss drugs. The fight began when Novo Nordisk couldn't keep up with demand for Wegovy and Ozempic, leading the Food and Drug Administration to put both semaglutide-based drugs on its shortage list. Under FDA rules, that opened the door for compounding pharmacies to make their own versions — and for firms like Hims & Hers to capitalize on the demand for a cheaper weight-loss shot. The FDA doesn't review compounded medications for safety or effectiveness and has warned that in general they aren't as safe as those that go through its rigorous approval process. Hims & Hers took out a 60-second Super Bowl ad in February that criticized brand-name weight-loss drugs as 'priced for profits, not patients.' Novo Nordisk repeatedly criticized compounded weight-loss drugs as dangerous and has filed more than 100 lawsuits over the issue. The FDA declared an end to the shortage of semaglutide in February, requiring Hims & Hers and others to stop offering compounded copies. Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, was under pressure to expand its market share while facing intense competition from rival Eli Lilly. On April 11, Dudum and his top lieutenants arrived at Novo Nordisk's U.S. headquarters in Plainsboro, New Jersey. They met for a couple of hours with Moore and his leadership team, and directly raised the biggest point of friction, according to Dudum: Hims & Hers planned to continue offering 'personalized' doses of compounded semaglutide under a regulation that allows for modifying a prescription drug if clinicians determine it makes a 'significant difference' for an individual patient. 'To be totally honest, there was no pushback,' Dudum said. There was 'dissatisfaction' among the Novo Nordisk team that Hims & Hers wasn't dropping compounded semaglutide altogether, he said, 'but we made it very clear and there really was no hearty debate on this issue.' The two teams then headed out to dinner at Mediterra, an upscale restaurant in Princeton, where Dudum said the deal was sealed. Novo Nordisk declined to comment on specifics of Dudum's account. 'We don't disclose private business conversations,' said Liz Skrbkova, a spokeswoman. 'Every company we work with is aware of our stance and expectations.' In an interview with The Washington Post on April 29, the day the partnership was announced, Moore said Novo Nordisk was partnering with Hims & Hers because more people were seeking care through telehealth. 'That's where the patients are, and that's where we need to be.' As for Hims' practice of compounding, Moore said, 'Compounding is illegal except for rare circumstances. We believe everyone will follow the rules.' Dudum said he and Moore texted regularly and that their leadership teams had a standing weekly meeting, where Hims & Hers provided insights on how Wegovy was performing on its platform. The two companies were discussing a new product, in which Novo Nordisk would make vials of Wegovy and Hims & Hers would sell it under its brand, according to Dudum. Within days of Dudum getting a Father's Day greeting from Moore, Novo Nordisk had changed its tune, he said. His team was suddenly under pressure to prioritize Wegovy over compounded semaglutide. The message, he recalled, was 'You need to stop allowing any type of personalization.' 'This looks like something Dave and I are going to have to talk about,' Dudum recalled thinking. He had less time than he thought. On June 23, Novo Nordisk — without notifying Hims & Hers — announced to the public that it was ending the partnership in a press release. Dudum said he felt blindsided. Hims & Hers' stock plummeted about 35 percent that day, erasing roughly $5 billion in value. Skrbkova, the Novo Nordisk spokeswoman, said in a statement that Hims & Hers 'failed to adhere to the laws prohibiting mass sales of compounded drugs under the false guise of 'personalization,'' adding that 'what we were seeing necessitated us to act to protect patient safety and end the collaboration.' Hims & Hers fired back that Novo Nordisk was attempting to improperly meddle in its medical providers' decisions. Its compounded semaglutide meets 'all applicable regulatory requirements,' the company said. Dudum said he wouldn't rule out working with Novo Nordisk in the future. The company continues to offer Wegovy on its platform, for the retail price of $2,000 a month — 10 times the cost of its compounded semaglutide.
Business Insider
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
'Expanding Horizons': Hims & Hers (HIMS) Brings Affordable Weight Loss Program to Canada
Telehealth platform Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) has announced plans to launch its affordable weight loss program in Canada in 2026, marking its first entry into the country. The move coincides with the anticipated global launch of generic semaglutide, a lower-cost alternative to Novo Nordisk's (NVO) weight loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy. Following the news, HIMS stock gained about 1.5% on Wednesday morning. Don't Miss TipRanks' Half-Year Sale Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. CEO Andrew Dudum called Canada a 'major opportunity.' About two-thirds of Canadian adults are overweight or obese, and often face high costs and limited access to effective treatments. Branded semaglutide, a proven weight loss medication, has historically been expensive as it costs over C$200 a month and often lacks medical support. Thus, Hims & Hers plans to use its digital platform to offer an affordable option, generic semaglutide. In addition, HIMS will provide 24/7 access to healthcare providers and custom care plans based on medical evidence. HIMS Global Expansion Moves The move comes after the recent acquisition of ZAVA, a digital health platform in Europe with a presence in Ireland, France, and Germany. This move is part of Hims & Hers' efforts to grow its international presence. By teaming up with ZAVA, Hims & Hers is expanding its offerings in dermatology, mental wellness, and weight management across multiple languages and healthcare systems. The company's CEO sees this expansion as a way to 'redefine accessible care at scale.' Overall, these expansion moves help the company strengthen its position as an international telehealth brand. Is HIMS Stock a Good Buy? Turning to Wall Street, HIMS stock has a Hold consensus rating based on one Buy, eight Holds, and two Sells assigned in the last three months. At $39.22, the average Hims & Hers stock price target implies a 20.69% downside potential.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. telehealth upstart plans to sell generic Ozempic in Canada as patent due to lapse
U.S. telehealth upstart Hims & Hers Health, Inc. is planning to enter the Canadian market with an eye to selling generic semaglutide, the anti-diabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes that is growing popularity as an anti-obesity medication. 'Canada is a major opportunity to show what affordable, high-quality weight loss care can look like,' Hims & Hers chief executive Andrew Dudum said in a release announcing the company's plan. The opportunity for Hims and Hers comes as Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is set to lose Canadian patent protection on its popular semaglutide-based drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, after apparently failing to pay a small fee to maintain the patent. According to the Canadian Patent Database, Novo Nordisk was first issued the patent in 2013 but it is now 'expired and beyond the period of reversal.' A report by Science said the pharma company last paid the annual maintenance fee on 2018, which at the time was $250. Meanwhile, it will hold the patent in the United States until at least 2032. At the moment, there is still no generic version of semaglutide on the market that has been approved by Health Canada. In a press release, Hims and Hers said almost two-thirds of adults in Canada are overweight or living with obesity. Branded semaglutide with no surrounding clinical support currently costs more than $200 a month in Canada. It said the price for generic semaglutide is expected to be available at a significant discount to the branded versions, with the prices expected to lower over time. WeightWatchers files for bankruptcy after growth in weight loss drugs How Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen rewrote the weight-loss game Hims and Hers stock traded up as much as 4.1 per cent after the company announced its plans to expand into Canada on Wednesday morning, but pared some of those gains by midday. The company had recently closed its acquisition of ZAVA, a digital health platform in Europe. • Email: dpaglinawan@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
