Listen to this article

The basics:

• Novo Nordisk cut ties with Hims & Hers over semaglutide concerns
• Company alleges illegal sales of unapproved Wegovy alternatives
• FDA limits compounding of GLP-1 drugs to patient-specific cases
• Novo Nordisk filed 120 lawsuits, invested $6.5B to scale production

Novo Nordisk is ending a partnership with Hims & Hers. The fallout comes over claims the telehealth platform sold copycat versions of the pharmaceutical giant’s weight-loss drug Wegovy.

The Danish drugmaker announced the decision in a June 23 press release. Novo Nordisk said it made the determination based on the “deceptive promotion and selling of illegitimate knockoff versions” that “put patient safety at risk.”

The move to dissolve the agreement came less than two months after the companies announced a “long-term collaboration” to make obesity treatment more accessible.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration removed semaglutide – the active ingredient in the GLP-1 drug – from its shortage list in February. At the time, the FDA told compounding pharmacies to stop producing unbranded versions by May.

In support of transitioning patients from knock-off compounded versions to authentic, FDA-approved Wegovy, Novo Nordisk began collaborating with telehealth companies.

According to Novo Nordisk, Hims & Hers has “failed to adhere to the law which prohibits mass sales of compounded drugs under the false guise of ‘personalization’ and are disseminating deceptive marketing that put patient safety at risk.”

A compounding interest

Under federal regulations, compounding pharmacies can make and sell large quantities of brand-name medicines only if they are in short supply. After the FDA declared a semaglutide shortage in 2022, pharmacies, telehealth companies and other health care providers could manufacture copycat GLP-1 therapies.

Since then, interest in compounded treatments has skyrocketed. Consumers consider the drugs a cheaper, easier to access alternative to branded medications.

Going forward, the FDA will allow compounding of prescriptions specific to particular patients. In those instances, pharmacies cannot produce the dugs in large batches that might allow for cheaper production costs. As a result, telehealth companies like Princeton-based Noom are pivoting to offer smaller doses of compounded semaglutide as part a program tailored to individual patients.

Though these businesses maintain the approach complies with FDA regulations allowing personalized exceptions, Novo Nordisk insists most compounded semaglutide sales remain illegal. The company has also vowed to continue taking action against the makers of knockoff or misbranded compounded versions.

Within the past year, Novo Nordisk has filed nearly 120 lawsuits to stop the marketing and sale of copycat GLP-1s.

Additionally, the pharma company has invested $6.5 billion over the past year to increase the domestic manufacturing capacity of Wegovy and Ozempic, a GLP-1 approved for patients with Type 2 diabetes.

‘Anticompetitive demands’

In a statement, Dave Moore executive vice president of U.S. operations for Novo Nordisk, reiterated the company’s position. Novo Norkisk has its U.S. headquarters in Plainsboro.

“When patients are prescribed semaglutide treatments by their licensed health care professional or a telehealth provider, they are entitled to receive authentic, FDA-approved and regulated Wegovy. We will work with telehealth companies to provide direct access to Wegovy that share our commitment to patient safety – and when companies engage in illegal sham compounding that jeopardizes the health of Americans, we will continue to take action,” he said.

In a comment shared on social media, San Francisco-based Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum accused Novo Nordisk of “misleading the public.”

We are disappointed to see Novo Nordisk management misleading the public.

In recent weeks, Novo Nordisk’s commercial team increasingly pressured us to control clinical standards and steer patients to Wegovy regardless of whether it was clinically best for patients. We refuse to…

— andrewdudum (@AndrewDudum) June 23, 2025

“In recent weeks, Novo Nordisk’s commercial team increasingly pressured us to control clinical standards and steer patients to Wegovy regardless of whether it was clinically best for patients. We refuse to be strong-armed by any pharmaceutical company’s anticompetitive demands that infringe on the independent decision making of providers and limit patient choice,” he wrote.

“We take our role of protecting the ability of providers and patients to control individual treatment decisions extremely seriously, and will not compromise the integrity of our platform to appease a third party or preserve a collaboration. The health and wellness of individuals always comes first,” Dudum said.

He added the company will continue to sell Wegovy as well as other treatments. According to reports, Hims & Hers can still prescribe Wegovy but only through NovoCare Pharmacy.