By Dominic Chopping

Novo Nordisk shares moved higher Tuesday after telehealth specialist Hims & Hers said that it would stop selling copycat versions of weight-loss drugs produced by the Danish company.

Shares in the Danish pharmaceutical company traded 4.1% higher in afternoon European trade at 665.40 Danish kroner.

Hims & Hers has been selling alternative compounded versions of Novo Nordisk's blockbuster drugs, a practice the U.S. Food & Drug Administration allowed while supplies of the approved drug have been in short supply.

But the FDA said last week there was no longer a shortage of semaglutide--which is marketed as Wegovy for weight-loss and Ozempic for diabetes--and told anyone distributing copies of semaglutide injection products that they must stop within 90 days.

The news sent Hims & Hers shares down 26% on the day.

Shares in the U.S. company fell a further 21% Tuesday after the company's chief financial officer told investors on a call late Monday that it would stop selling semaglutide after the first quarter.

There may be the potential to offer commercially available dosages of compounded semaglutide throughout the year, he said, but the company's weight-loss offering later this year will mainly be composed of "evolving oral based solutions" as well as generic versions of liraglutide--another Novo Nordisk weight-loss and diabetes treatment.

Bank of America Securities analysts said the potential for less compounding--or formulating copycat versions of a drug--is important for Novo Nordisk.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 25, 2025 10:18 ET (15:18 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.