Big Pharma vs. Cheap Pills – Novo Nordisk Takes Hims to Court, Hims Stock Crashes

With input from Axios, CNBC, Market Watch, Reuters, and Forbes.

Novo Nordisk turned the gloves back on Monday. The Danish drugmaker filed suit against telehealth company Hims & Hers, asking a US court to permanently block the sale of compounded copies of its Wegovy weight-loss drug and to recover damages – and the market reacted fast: Hims’ stock plunged roughly 27% while Novo’s ticked higher.

What’s at stake is simple and messy at the same time. Novo says Hims mass-marketed unapproved, compounded versions of semaglutide – the active ingredient in Wegovy – in a way that violates Novo’s patents and puts patients at risk because these knockoffs aren’t vetted by regulators.

“This is a complete sham… Their medicines are untested, and they’re putting patients at risk,” John Kuckelman, Novo’s general counsel, told reporters, arguing Novo isn’t against all compounding, only “unlawful mass compounding.”

Hims pushed back loudly. After announcing over the weekend that it would stop offering the pill following regulatory pressure and legal threats, the company called Novo’s lawsuit “a blatant attack by a Danish company on millions of Americans who rely on compounded medications for access to personalized care,” accusing Big Pharma of weaponizing the courts to limit consumer choice.

The flashpoint was pricing and scale. Hims had advertised an introductory price as low as $49 for the first month – roughly $100 cheaper than Novo’s Wegovy – and promised cheaper ongoing access. Novo and others argue that what Hims billed as “personalized” dosing was really mass production of a patented drug; semaglutide remains covered by US patents through 2032, Novo notes.

The legal action comes amid a broader regulatory sweep. The FDA signaled it would move against the marketing of unauthorized compounded GLP-1 drugs, restricting access to ingredients used in non-approved products and flagging potential violations to the Department of Justice. Novo estimates as many as 1.5 million Americans may already be using compounded GLP-1 drugs – a figure that helps explain why regulators and brand manufacturers have both been alarmed.

From Novo’s perspective, this is about stopping what it sees as illegal copying that undercuts safety and revenue. From Hims’ angle, it’s about access and affordability for consumers who have turned to telehealth and compounding pharmacies to get these popular medicines at lower cost.

Either way, the battle is likely to get louder. Novo is asking the court for a permanent injunction and damages; Hims has paused the product but frames the suit as a fight for patients’ choices. For investors, it’s a reminder that the GLP-1 boom has spawned not just big winners, but big fights – legal, regulatory and reputational – and that those fights can move stocks as quickly as any earnings miss.