Novo Nordisk has also spoken out strongly against Hims & Hers’ compounded Wegovy pill, with CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar telling investors the knockoff version is a waste of money.
The FDA will “take swift action against companies mass-marketing illegal copycat drugs,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary wrote in an X post on Thursday. While he didn’t explicitly name a target, the statement appears directly aimed at consumer healthcare company Hims & Hers
Indeed, in a report from Endpoints News the same day, a government official who requested anonymity confirmed that Makary was referring to Hims. The wellness platform on Thursday launched a compounded version of oral Wegovy, which it said would be available at an introductory price of $49 for the first month, before going up to a regular monthly cost of $99.
“The FDA cannot verify the quality, safety, or effectiveness of non-approved drugs,” Makary said in his post.
Novo has since bristled at Hims’ announcement. In an investor call in London Thursday to present its full-year 2025 results, CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar said, “you’re wasting $49, in my opinion,” on Hims’ compounded drug. “I have no idea what they have done with the compound . . . but assuming you just take the compound without the things around it and formulations and what have you, then this just doesn’t work.”
The Danish powerhouse has also threatened to “take legal and regulatory action to protect patients,” the pharma wrote in a Feb. 5 statement. “This is another example of Hims & Hers’ historic behaviour of duping the American public with knock-off GLP-1 products.”
Novo and Hims had previously been in a brief and fitful alliance. The companies signed a pact in April 2025, aiming to improve the accessibility and affordability of the pharma’s obesity care products through the telehealth company’s online platform. Through the partnership, the companies sought to offer an injectable form of Wegovy for $599.
The arrangement fell apart just eight weeks later, however, with Novo apparently incensed at how Hims continued to offer compounded versions of semaglutide even after the alliance was signed. At the time, Novo accused Hims of “deceptive promotion and selling of illegitimate, knockoff versions of Wegovy that put patient safety at risk.”
