Hims & Hers stock extends gains as RFK Jr. signals FDA will consider looser restrictions on peptides – Yahoo Finance
Hims & Hers (HIMS) stock jumped for a second day in a row, gaining 6% in early trading on Thursday over investor optimism that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking to lift restrictions on certain peptides.
The stock gains added to a 13% move on Wednesday after the FDA scheduled a July meeting to assess whether seven peptides should be added to a list of substances that compounding pharmacies are allowed to make.
“The FDA will remove them from Category 2 and will bring them to PCAC at its next two meetings, beginning in July, where independent experts will rigorously evaluate each substance on its scientific merits using full clinical, pharmacological, and safety evidence,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.
“This action begins to restore regulated access and will immediately begin shifting demand away from the black market,” he added.
Category 2 is where the FDA places drugs it considers too dangerous or unproven to be made in compounding pharmacies. Moving them to evaluation by the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee suggests the agency is willing to listen to new evidence.
Wall Street sees the FDA development as positive for Hims & Hers, given that the company bought a peptide manufacturing facility in California last year to expand treatments ranging from weight loss to muscle recovery.
Despite Thursday’s move, Hims & Hers stock is down 23% year to date as regulatory risk over the manufacturing of compounded versions of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs has weighed on the stock. In March, drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk (NVO) dropped its patent infringement lawsuit against the telehealth provider.
Hims & Hers announced a collaboration with Novo Nordisk, saying it would provide GLP-1 customers with access to a broad assortment of FDA-approved medications and offer compounded semaglutide through the platform on a limited scale.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.
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