Hims & Hers Health, an online pharmacy known for selling generic pills for various conditions, has announced the launch of its own version of Ozempic. The company will be selling compounded versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the diabetes injectable Ozempic and its weight loss sister drug Wegovy, at a fraction of the cost of Novo Nordisk’s expensive name-brand drugs.
The company plans to offer injections of the glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist, which is believed to mimic the feeling of fullness in the stomach, and also “weight management oral medication kits,” allowing customers to personalize their weight loss experience. The service will cost between $79 and $199 per month.
The company’s CEO, Andrew Dudum, stated that they have leveraged their size and scale to secure access to one of the highest-quality supplies of compounded GLP-1 injections available today. They are passing that access and value along to their customers, who deserve the highest standard of clinical safety and efficacy to meet their goals, and they’re doing it in a safe, affordable way that others can’t deliver.
This move comes as Ozempic, Wegovy, and other weight loss injectables have become popular to the point of scarcity, leading online compounding pharmacies to sell generic semaglutide direct to consumers at far lower costs than the name brands, which can run between $935 and $1,350 per month.
However, it’s important to note that compounding pharmacies can be controversial. They can be exempt from Food and Drug Administration regulations so long as they comply with certain requirements that primarily deal with facility safety and sterility rather than the ingredients of the drugs they’re making. Because they’re less regulated than conventional pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, there’s no real way to determine the safety of the drugs compounding pharmacies produce. As more and more horror stories about compounded semaglutide have been stacking up, it’s crucial for consumers to be aware of the potential risks.
Read more: futurism.com