(Reuters) -Telehealth firm Hims & Hers Health said on Tuesday it plans to sell Eli Lilly’s diabetes and weight-loss drugs on its platform.
Shares of the company were up 8.5% in afternoon trading.
The telehealth firm is following its peers Teladoc and LifeMD in offering Lilly’s Zepbound ahead of restrictions on selling copies known as compounded drugs.
The company said it will offer both branded versions of Lilly’s tirzepatide — the active ingredient in weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes medicine Mounjaro — as well as generics of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug, liraglutide.
Hims & Hers previously only offered cheaper versions of Novo’s weight-loss drug Wegovy.
Shares of the company have fallen 40% since the U.S. FDA removed Novo’s top-selling Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic from its shortage list on February 21.
Without a shortage, compounders may not produce copies of the branded drugs regularly or in large amounts, according to FDA guidance.
The FDA said in March it will not take action against compounding pharmacies making copies of Wegovy until a federal court delivers its ruling in a lawsuit against the agency.
The FDA clarified that state-licensed compounding pharmacies and outsourcing facilities — which make compounded drugs in bulk — have until April 22 and May 22 respectively, or until the court decides on the injunction, to stop making Wegovy copies, whichever comes later.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Leroy Leo and Alan Barona)
