FDA Approves Wegovy GLP-1 Weight Loss Daily Drug
Wegovy’s daily pill form will soon be available to consumers after the FDA approves the drug.
Novo Nordisk sued Eli Lilly on July 21 for what Novo claimed was false and misleading advertising comparing the effectiveness of each drug company’s injectable weight loss drugs.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges that Lilly’s advertisements are “intentionally simple and intentionally false” because they promote “outdated clinical trials comparing the highest-dose Lilly drug to the lower-dose Novo Nordisk drug.”
Novo said these ads are deceptive because they present results as “evidence of broad product-level superiority while burying or omitting important clinical context.”
John Kuckelman, Novo’s senior vice president and group general counsel, said Lilly’s advertising was misleading to consumers.
“What’s really in focus here is a pattern of nationwide deceptive advertising, a campaign to mislead people with obesity and diabetes by comparing the highest dose of Lilly’s drug to the lower dose of Novo’s drug,” Kuckelman told USA TODAY. “Patients are left with the misleading impression that Lilly’s drug is better than Novo’s.”
Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Novo Nordisk is not asking Lilly to stop selling its blockbuster weight loss and diabetes drugs. Rather, Novo is asking the judge to issue a permanent order requiring Lilly to run comparative ads on all platforms. It also asks the court to order Lilly to conduct a “corrective advertising campaign.”
The lawsuit comes amid a fierce battle between two drug companies over the market for the popular GLP-1 weight loss drug, which is primarily prescribed to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. Novo was the first to market its anti-obesity drug Wegoby, while Lilly saw a surge in sales of its weight-loss drug Zepbound. Zepbound’s revenue reached approximately $4.2 billion in the first three months of 2026, an 80% year-over-year increase.
Analysts expect the weight loss sector to generate about $100 billion in annual sales over the next 10 years, according to Reuters. More than half a dozen pharmaceutical companies are developing new versions of weight loss drugs in a competitive market.
The companies could benefit from the millions of seniors who could become eligible to receive the popular GLP-1 weight loss drug under a new Medicare pilot program.
On July 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge Program for enrollees who are eligible to receive weight-loss drug prescriptions based on height, weight, and other criteria. People with Medicare must pay a $50 monthly copayment, and Medicare will cover the rest.
Novo advertises Lilly
According to the complaint, Lilly’s television commercials compared the companies’ weight-loss drugs and said that people using Lilly’s Zepbound lost an average of 50 pounds, compared to 33 pounds on Wegoby’s 2.4-milligram dose.
The complaint said the commercial did not share the results of a clinical trial showing that patients given high doses of Wegoby lost an average of 47 pounds. The Food and Drug Administration approved a higher dose of Wegovy in March 2026, a 7.2-milligram dose.
The complaint says Lilly used “a similar misleading approach” in ads comparing its diabetes drugs, Lilly’s Munjaro and Novo’s Ozempic. Novo said the advertisement compared the high-dose version of Munjaro to the low-dose version of Ozempic, even though higher-dose versions of Ozempic were available.
Novo said Lilly’s advertising was hurting its business.
“Lilly’s false and misleading advertising diverts patient demand and prescriptions away from Novo Nordisk’s medicines and toward Lilly’s medicines,” the complaint said.
