Hims offered semaglutide for $99/month. That’s a 90% discount on unsubsidized consumer prices for injectable semaglutide. I also don’t see any evidence that they sold a placebo, but I’m just catching up now, perhaps I missed where they’re selling something with a different active ingredient which does not work.
I've since read TFA, as well as many other articles, official correspondence, and case law around the issue. I understand that without the additional ingredients of SNAC/sodium caprate/sodium caprylate, the bioavailability is probably too low to have a clinical effect at oral doses <15mg/day.
I read the actual FDA referral to the DOJ. They don't mention anything about any of what this article touches on. It's not clear that the referral makes correct claims about anything illegal going on. In statements, the FDA says that compounding pharmacies "cannot state compounded drugs use the same active ingredient as the FDA-approved drugs". That's a very brand-new interpretation of rules, and might not stand up to judicial scrutiny. In the context of "shouldn't investors have known that Hims business model is illegal??" -- it makes sense that investors couldn't have known ahead of time that the FDA would claim this.
i haven't read the article. is the question, can hims ship a clone of 25mg oral wegovy? yes, it can.
> ... at oral doses <15mg/day.
well it's not a clone of rybelsus, it's a clone of wegovy 25mg. so i suppose it will be bioavailable at 25mg.
> That's a very brand-new interpretation of rules
this is true. Tidmarsh, the whole Novo Nordisk deal with Trump, it's now about, well we'll do the patent enforcement we didn't want to do before. The simple fact of the matter is, these are lifestyle products, so it's not so black and white if they ought to have the same patent and payment protections as typical therapeutics.
