Eli Lilly (LLY 2.26%) stock bounced back 2.4% by 9:50 a.m. ET Monday after taking a tumble last week.
Shares of the big pharma stock and manufacturer of Mounjaro and Zepbound GLP-1 weight loss drugs sank several percent Thursday after Hims & Hers Health (HIMS 3.21%) announced it would sell an Ozempic lookalike pill to compete with Novo Nordisk's (NVO 1.88%) Wegovy pill -- and with Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound injectable weight loss drugs as well.
Over the weekend, everything changed.
Image source: Getty Images.
Him & Hers under attack
First, on Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to crack down on Hims & Hers, potentially cutting off access to ingredients the company needs to manufacture Ozempic copycats or seizing Hims & Hers products. Hims said Saturday it will not sell its pill after all.
This morning, Novo Nordisk sued Hims & Hers anyway, demanding a permanent injunction against the company for selling compounded copies of its drugs in any form (injectable or pill-based).
Hims quickly responded with a jingoistic accusation that "Danish company" Novo was trying to deprive "millions of Americans [of] compounded medications for access to personalized care." It's worth pointing out, though, that Hims & Hers's offer to sell knockoff Ozempic pills for $49 a month poses as big a threat to American Eli Lilly as it does to Novo.
NYSE: LLY
Key Data Points
What this means for Eli Lilly
More importantly for investors, Eli Lilly could benefit even more from Novo Nordisk's lawsuit (and the FDA investigation, and Hims' capitulation) than will Novo. After all, at last report, Lilly was charging $299 a month for Zepbound (which requires a needle), versus Novo charging $149 for Wegovy in pill form.
Hims & Hers' $49 price tag was a bigger threat to Lilly. Its disappearance is even better news for Lilly than for Novo.
