Key Takeaways
- Hims & Hers Health shares tumbled Thursday after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Eli Lilly’s popular weight-loss drugs are no longer on its list of drugs in short supply.
- The FDA allows companies to produce compounded copycat drugs when the originals are hard to obtain, and the latest decision will prohibit production of compounded versions of Eli Lilly’s drugs.
- The change could hurt Hims & Hers, which makes copycat weight-loss drugs, and has benefited from the limited availability of some obesity medicines.
Shares of Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) sank Thursday after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Eli Lilly’s (LLY) popular weight-loss treatments, Mounjaro and Zepbound, were no longer on its list of drugs in short supply.
The change could hurt Hims & Hers, which makes copycat weight-loss drugs, and has benefited from the limited availability of some obesity medicines.
The FDA allows companies to produce compounded drugs, which combine the key ingredient in the patented version with other drugs, when the originals are hard to obtain. However, the FDA’s latest decision will prohibit other companies from making copycat versions of Eli Lilly’s drugs.
Hims & Hers shares had also taken a hit in August after Eli Lilly said that it would be selling its two lowest doses of the medicine in vials that patients could measure themselves, saving money compared to pre-filled injectables.
Shares of Hims & Hers were down 11.4% at $16.77 in Thursday afternoon trading, though despite Thursday’s decline, they’ve gained close to 90% since the start of the year.