Hims Stock Dives after Novo Threatens Lawsuit over $49 Wegovy Knock-off

CNBC, Reuters, Investor’s Business Daily, ABC News contributed to this report.

Hims & Hers’ roller-coaster week got uglier on Friday. The telehealth player’s stock sank after Novo Nordisk declared the company’s newly announced pill — a cheap, semaglutide-based alternative to Wegovy — was illegal and that it would sue. The drama comes less than 24 hours after Hims lit a fuse by saying it would sell a Wegovy-style pill for $49 for the first month (then $99 on subscription), well under Novo’s $149 starter price.

Quick timeline: Hims’ launch news sent the shares surging as much as 15% on Thursday, only to tumble back and close down 3.8% at a 12-month low. Early Friday trading saw another hit (about 6–8% in premarket), as investors priced in legal risk and a likely FDA spotlight.

Why Novo’s angry: Novo says Hims is mass-marketing an unapproved copy of its pill and that the move is illegal and unsafe. The Danish drugmaker said it’s working with regulators and law enforcement to protect its intellectual property and keep unapproved knockoffs off the market. Novo’s argument has teeth: semaglutide formulations are still covered by US patents through 2032, and Hims’ product hasn’t gone through FDA approval or clinical trials.

Hims’ defense: the company says its offering is “personalized” dosing and uses a liposome-based technology to aid absorption, and it insists safety hasn’t been compromised. Hims also points to recent history: when branded GLP-1 injectables were in short supply, compounding rules let pharmacies make alternatives — a loophole Hims used successfully before. But supply is no longer the issue for pills, and regulators appear less patient this time.

Enter the FDA: Commissioner Marty Makary warned the same day that the agency would act against companies mass-marketing “illegal copycat drugs,” saying it cannot vouch for the safety or quality of non-approved meds. That public rebuke tightened the screws on Hims and likely accelerated investor selloffs.

The bigger picture: Hims’ valuation is tightly linked to its ability to sell weight-loss drugs cheaply. That business case looks shaky if the FDA or courts clamp down — and analysts say other drugmakers’ pills (Eli Lilly is often mentioned) could be next targets for copycats. For now, Hims is a high-volatility bet: big upside if it wins or survives, big downside if regulators and incumbents close the door.

What’s next: expect legal filings, regulatory scrutiny and more wild swings for Hims’ stock. If Novo sues and the FDA gets involved, the cheap-pill play could evaporate overnight — and investors who piled in on the idea of low-cost GLP-1s will be watching every headline.