Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) came under pressure on Thursday. Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) announced a low-cost compounded version of the Danish drugmaker’s newly launched oral obesity therapy, the Wegovy pill.
Novo (NVO) dropped ~8%, extending a recent sell-off that followed an underwhelming sales outlook issued earlier this week. Eli Lilly (LLY), which is awaiting the U.S. launch of its oral weight loss therapy, Orforglipron, in Q2, slipped ~7%, reversing gains made on Wednesday on the back of a strong Q4 2025 earnings report.
HIMS said its copycat version will be launched at an introductory price of $49 per month, indicating a roughly $100 discount to Novo’s (NONOF) brand-name product, which entered the U.S. market in January, drawing strong demand.
The telehealth platform added that its GLP-1 pill will be customizable to treat patients who are seeking to manage their side effects and those who are averse to needles.
Gaston Kroub, a patent lawyer in New York, told Reuters that by customizing its product for those patients, Hims & Hers (HIMS) is touting its treatment as another personalized option, broadening the bounds of personalization under the FDA’s framework.
However, Novo (NVO) called the action “illegal mass compounding” that significantly impacts patient safety and added it will resort to legal and regulatory measures “to protect patients, our intellectual property, and the integrity of the US gold-standard drug approval framework.”
“HIMS has shown a willingness to go as close to the line as possible,” Kroub said, adding, “It’s a strategy of saying, ‘All right, if we pop our head over the barbed wire fence, is anybody going to take a shot?’”