Hims & Hers Well being has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, CNBC confirmed Tuesday.
The corporate, which affords a variety of direct-to-consumer remedies for situations like weight reduction, erectile dysfunction and hair loss, is the most recent in a string of tech corporations which have tried to curry favor with the incoming administration. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta each introduced $1 million donations to the inaugural fund late final yr, and Amazon and Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner have additionally reportedly contributed.
“At Hims & Hers, we stand with leaders and advocates who’re dedicated to enhancing America’s damaged healthcare system,” the corporate stated in an announcement to CNBC.
Axios first reported Hims & Hers’ donation.
Hims & Hers was a breakout star within the digital well being sector final yr, largely because of the success of its widespread new weight reduction providing.
The corporate started prescribing compounded semaglutide via its platform in Might after launching a weight reduction program late in 2023. Semaglutide is the lively ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which might value round $1,000 a month with out insurance coverage. Compounded semaglutide is a less expensive, custom-made different to the model medication and might be produced when the brand-name remedies are in scarcity.
The way forward for compounded GLP-1s within the U.S. just isn’t solely clear, particularly as members of Trump’s circle have expressed conflicting opinions in regards to the medication extra broadly. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s choose to steer the Division of Well being and Human Companies, has criticized GLP-1s. He advised CNBC in an interview that “the primary line of response” to weight problems ought to be way of life modifications, although he added that “GLP medication have a spot.”
Dr. Marty Makary, Trump’s choose to steer the Meals and Drug Administration, has served as an government of the telehealth firm Sesame, which connects shoppers to physicians who can prescribe compounded GLP-1s. Nonetheless, Makary’s function at Sesame has been largely ceremonial in recent times.
Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO who has been an in depth confidant of Trump’s for the reason that election, has overtly expressed his help for the drugs.
“Nothing would do extra to enhance the well being, lifespan and high quality of life for People than making GLP inhibitors tremendous low value to the general public,” Musk wrote in a put up on his social media platform X in December.
At an occasion with reporters in New York Metropolis late final yr, which was attended by CNBC, Hims & Hers stated it will work with the incoming administration and share the corporate’s viewpoint in regards to the worth of the drugs.
