Telehealth leader Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS) sent shockwaves through the pharmaceutical sector on Thursday, announcing the launch of a compounded oral semaglutide pill priced significantly lower than Novo Nordisk’s brand-name Wegovy.
The move marks a daring escalation in the "GLP-1 wars."
Just weeks after Novo Nordisk debuted its own long-awaited oral version of Wegovy, Hims & Hers has countered with an introductory price of $49 for the first month, rising to $99 per month for those on a five-month plan.
This is a direct shot at Novo Nordisk, which recently lowered its cash price for oral Wegovy to $149 per month following pressure from the Trump administration.
The legal stakes are equally high.
Novo Nordisk immediately threatened "legal and regulatory action," labeling the Hims product an "unapproved, inauthentic, and untested knockoff."
While the FDA declared the national semaglutide shortage "resolved" in February 2025—a move that typically shuts down mass compounding—Hims & Hers is leveraging Section 503A of the FD&C Act.
This provision allows pharmacies to compound medications that are not "essentially a copy" if they are personalized for a specific patient’s needs, such as a custom dosage or a specific allergy-friendly formulation.
Investors reacted swiftly to the news.
Hims & Hers shares jumped 11% at the opening bell, while Novo Nordisk’s U.S.-listed shares tumbled as much as 8.6% as the market weighed the threat to Novo's cash-pay dominance.
Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) also saw its stock dip 4% in pre-market trading, as it prepares to launch its own rival GLP-1 pill, orforglipron, later this year.