The news: Hims & Hers said on its recent earnings call that it’s in active talks with Novo Nordisk to make Wegovy available on Hims’ platforms.

• A partnership isn’t certain, but Hims would gain access to Wegovy injections and Novo’s upcoming oral version at manufacturer-set discounts.

Catch up quick: Hims and Novo briefly teamed up earlier this year to offer Wegovy at a reduced price for cash-paying patients. Novo ended the tie-up after just two months over concerns that Hims was still selling cheaper, compounded versions of Novo’s semaglutide.

For context, companies can legally sell compounded drugs if they’re not identical to brand-name versions. But Novo refused to make its GLP-1 discounts available for any firms that might undermine its product sales, while Hims wouldn’t commit to pulling compounded GLP-1s from its platform.

What’s driving the news: Hims and Novo both have an incentive to reignite their partnership.

Hims’ pricing edge in the GLP-1 market is fading. Even after Novo and Eli Lilly cut prices of their brand-name GLP-1s to about $500 a month for cash-pay customers, Hims’ $200 monthly price remained far more affordable for most patients. But Novo and Lilly’s GLP-1s are set to get even cheaper ($350 per month trending down to $250) after both drugmakers just struck a price-cut deal with the Trump administration. The narrowing price gap could drive many consumers to pay a little more for an FDA-approved branded product.

Novo could use GLP-1 sales from Hims’ sticky customer base to make up some of the market share it has recently lost to Lilly. Hims has nearly 2.5 million subscribers and has rapidly expanded its weight loss business over the past year. Consumers are clearly willing to pay out of pocket for weight-loss drugs, with the cash-pay channel making up between one-quarter and one-third of GLP-1 prescriptions. And Hims boasts an 85% subscriber retention rate, meaning customers who sign up for treatment plans typically stick with them.

What it means for GLP-1 companies: With brand-name GLP-1 prices falling, compounders face two choices: cut prices to maintain their competitive edge or drop copycat versions and partner with Novo and/or Lilly.

The latter is a smarter bet to avoid squeezing margins even further via discounts. Meanwhile, Novo should recognize Hims as a necessary distribution partner, and one that could improve medication adherence among GLP-1 patients since Hims’ services also include 24/7 access to telehealth providers for customers to ask questions and work through any side effects as they arise.