Cheap Wegovy copycat triggers Novo Nordisk stock selloff

Health tech company`s Novo Nordisk (NVO) stock slides again after Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) rolled out a compounded semaglutide weight loss pill priced to shock the system.

Intro plans start at $49 for the first month.

Novo’s newly launched oral Wegovy sits at $149.

Investors saw the math and headed for the exits.

Novo’s stock dropped to new six month lows. That matters because it signals the market has stopped giving Novo the benefit of the doubt. This isn’t a random pullback. GLP-1s are no longer protected by scarcity, brand power, or moral authority around “approved” medicine.

Hims isn’t alone, but it’s loud, fast, and consumer facing. It sells directly, markets aggressively, and doesn’t apologize for undercutting incumbents. Novo has accused firms like Hims of illegal mass compounding and deceptive marketing. That fight didn’t stop the selloff. It accelerated it.

This also landed just weeks after Novo launched its own oral version of Wegovy. The timing couldn’t be worse. Novo wanted to reset the narrative around convenience and innovation. For a while, Wegovy pill prescriptions showed a strong start. But now, they triggered a pricing comparison Novo can’t win.

The disruption behind the news: The collapse of pricing in obesity drugs.

For the past two years, GLP-1 leaders benefited from a rare setup.

Demand exploded faster than supply.

Insurance coverage was patchy.

Patients paid out of pocket and accepted high prices because there was no alternative. That phase is ending.

Compounded pills change the adoption curve. Pills remove injections. Telehealth removes clinic friction. A $49 entry point removes hesitation. That combination pulls in a massive population that never touched branded GLP-1s.

Here’s the number that matters. A $100 monthly price gap is $1,200 a year per patient. Multiply that by even 500,000 price sensitive users and you’re staring at $600 million in annual spend diverted from branded drugs. That’s before international markets copy the model.

Novo’s defense has been regulatory pressure and trust. That works with doctors. It works less with consumers trying to lose weight and manage budgets. Especially when results feel similar.

Meanwhile competition isn’t standing still. Eli Lilly is already taking share with Zepbound in the US. Add compounded pills and the premium pricing umbrella collapses from both sides.

Once consumers anchor to sub-$100 monthly pricing, you don’t get to reset higher later.

What to watch next

First, watch enforcement.

If regulators move slowly or inconsistently, compounding becomes normalized. That locks in lower prices.

Second, watch Novo’s response.

If it cuts oral Wegovy pricing within six to nine months, that confirms the market has won. If it doesn’t, volume growth will disappoint.

Third, watch payer behavior.

Employers and insurers will push cheaper options the moment outcomes look comparable. They won’t defend premium pricing out of loyalty.

This selloff isn’t panic. GLP-1s are becoming consumer software with pills, subscriptions, and price competition. We believe 2026 is the year where obesity pills will reshape the GLP-1 market. Novo built a miracle drug business on scarcity. Scarcity just broke, and margins usually break right after. Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) has a Disruption Score of 1. Click here to learn how we calculate the Disruption Score.