Red Flag Update – Weight-Loss Illusion
The risk at HIMS for investors who fail to grasp what's real.
(This friendly reminder: My Red Flag Alerts and selected On the Street content are no longer free. But while the paint is still drying on my paywall, my introductory price remains. I will be raising prices. Here’s more on my decision to go paid, and what to expect from my Red Flag Alerts.)
This update on what I wrote about Hims & Hers HIMS -0.74%↓ on Sunday’s Watch List Weekly…
I first added Hims to the Red Flag Alerts in May on concerns over its rollout of compounded GLP-1 drugs, which the FDA allowed because there were shortages of the real thing.
Those shortages are now considerably less, but one thing there is no shortage of: companies that are springing up to sell knock-off versions of the patented meds Eli Lilly LLY 0.00%↑ and Novo Nordisk NVO 0.00%↑.
A quick Google search for “compounded GLP-1” spits out a long list of names of online places to get them, including Hims, Henry Meds, Levity Healthcare, RO.co and a whole bunch more… with advertised prices as low as $99. Forbes Health, via a top-ranked “sponsored” link, even has its own “Best of 2024” list…
The list itself is misleading and silly to the point of laughable because it claims to be a list of “best GLP-1 medications,” when it’s really just a list of online dispensaries. What’s more, as the highlighted fine print on top of the list says, Forbes earns commissions “from the offers on this page, which influences which offers are displayed and how and where the offers appears.”
Absurdly Out-of Control
That’s a story for another day, but it shows why the FDA has voiced concerns about compounded weight-loss drugs.
But more importantly, it shows just how absurdly out-of-control the online sale of GLP-1s is getting and why it’s a sign of weakness – not strength – for the few public companies selling compounded GLP-1s… notably Hims.
Here’s why…