Hims & Hers halts sale of Wegovy copycat pill following FDA crackdown on weight-loss drugs
US pharmaceutical company Hims & Hers Health Inc. has announced that it will stop selling a counterfeit version of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy weight loss pill, just two days after its launch, according to a report from Bloomberg.
This, he added, comes amid increased scrutiny from the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), which is “cracking down on imitation weight loss treatments”.
Hims said in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on February 7 that the decision was made after “constructive discussions with stakeholders”, according to the report. Notably, at the time of writing, it was no longer visible on their page.
In an earlier post on Feb. 5, the company denied Novo’s claims that its pill was “unapproved, unsubstantiated, and untested.” He added that Hims has a track record of accessibility and customer-centric approach.
Hims cancels Wegovy’s imitation pills: What happened?
Hims announced Thursday that Novo Nordisk A/S plans to sell a cheaper version of its new Wegovy weight-loss pill. The drugmaker, which attributes its comeback to the new pill, said the move was illegal and threatened to take action.
Analysts had praised the new Wegovy pill as one of the most successful drug launches in recent years; It was a much-needed win for the company.
The next day, the FDA announced its investigation. The Department of Health and Human Services also said it referred Hims to the Justice Department for possible violations of federal law.
A representative for Novo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FDA declined to comment.
Novo and Eli Lilly pressure US FDA for tough action against weight-loss generics
Novo and Eli Lilly & Co., makers of blockbuster GLP-1 drugs, have long complained that the FDA isn’t doing enough to stop the proliferation of cheap, compounded weight-loss drugs. This marks the first time Hims has stopped selling a knockoff version following a company complaint.
Telehealth companies were first able to sell counterfeit weight-loss drugs during a supply shortage several years ago. The shortage ended but the practice continued.
Hims and Novo have long had friction over this issue. Last year, the companies were supposed to team up to sell discounted weight-loss drugs, but ended the partnership months later in part because of a compounding issue.
“We had an agreement that mass compounding would stop, and unfortunately it didn’t,” Ludovic Helfgott, Novo’s vice president of product and portfolio strategy, said at the time.
Hims CEO Andrew Dudum said he “will not bow” to the pharmaceutical company’s demands for counterfeit weight loss drugs.
“There’s no way in hell,” he said.
(With input from Bloomberg)
