Roughly a month after saying that it would offer GLP-1 injectable weight-loss drugs akin to the favored medicine Ozempic and Mounjaro, Hims & Hers Well being shares are taking a beating after a brand new report criticized these choices, saying that they’re being acquired by way of a “shady provider.”
That report, revealed on Thursday by Hunterbrook Media, says that “Hims & Hers sells knockoff GLP-1 weight-loss medicine by way of a loophole that might finish at any time” and that one in all its reporters “certified for GLP-1 knockoffs from Hims after a 4-minute survey—then obtained a prescription with out talking to a physician or submitting medical information.” Moreover, Belcher Prescription drugs, the corporate that Hims has partnered with to accumulate the GLP-1 medicine, has a spotty historical past, together with two former executives convicted of fraud.
The report landed with a thud and triggered Hims’ inventory worth to drop considerably. After closing Wednesday at round $21.45, shares traded as little as $19.14 on Thursday, a fall of roughly 12%, and remained below $20 on Friday afternoon.
Quick Firm reached out to Hims for remark and was informed that the corporate didn’t have an official assertion to share. The corporate has mentioned in earlier blog posts that it’s dedicated to buyer security. In one other, authored by Dr. Patrick Carroll, the corporate’s chief medical officer, the corporate describes how “delivering on our imaginative and prescient for protected and reasonably priced entry to GLP-1 injections took us over a yr as a result of our diligence required vetting dozens of producers throughout the nation with a variety of experience and security requirements.”
The first concern outlined by the Hunterbrook report, a minimum of for patrons, is that the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) may shut the loophole, permitting compounding pharmacies to promote GLP-1 alternate options to call manufacturers like Ozempic and Wegovy. Additional, Hims may doubtlessly discover itself in authorized hassle if the GLP-1 medicine it’s supplying are discovered to be dangerous or ineffective.
None of that is to say that GLP-1 medicine are essentially harmful—or that the compounded variations provided by Hims are—however given the mania surrounding the medicine and their evident capacity to assist folks shed extra pounds, Hunterbrook’s report goes slightly deeper into the workarounds that firms are discovering to get clients the medicines.