04:52 PM EDT, 05/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Shares of Hims & Hers Health ( HIMS ) rallied on Monday after the digital pharmacy announced the addition of weight loss injections, which come at a time of wider industry shortages.

The glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, injections offer an affordable way for patients to access the same active ingredient as Novo Nordisk (NVO) GLP-1 injections Ozempic and Wegovy "without navigating the shortages and costs that are currently limiting access to the branded medications," the company wrote.

In November, Novo Nordisk announced a 42 billion Danish kroner (currently $6.11 billion) manufacturing expansion that includes GLP-1 products to increase its ability "to meet future market demands."

Shares of Hims & Hers closed 28% higher on Monday. The magnitude of the rally was "a little surprising," according to Truist Securities Managing Director Jailendra Singh, considering Hims & Hers Chief Executive Andrew Dudum said earlier this month that the company planned to launch GLP-1s "soon," according to a Capital IQ transcript.

Hims & Hers Health ( HIMS ) said it is working with a leading US manufacturer of generic and 503B-compounded injectable medications to offer the GLP-1 weight loss injections. Prices for the injections start at $199 a month, it said. Wegovy costs about $1,350 for a month without insurance, Bloomberg News reported.

"We've leveraged our size and scale to secure access to one of the highest-quality supplies of compounded GLP-1 injections available today," Dudum said in a statement on Monday. "We're passing that access and value along to our customers, who deserve the highest standard of clinical safety and efficacy to meet their goals, and we're doing it in a safe, affordable way that others can't deliver."

The injections will be offered alongside the weight management oral medication kits Hims & Hers began offering with the launch of its weight loss program in December. The kits start at $79 a month.

The company recently said it expects its weight loss business to surpass $100 million in revenue by the end of 2025, Truist's Singh said.

Price: 18.58, Change: +4.01, Percent Change: +27.49