Anna Hartz
Novo Nordisk accuses Eli Lilly of misleading Americans over Wegovy
The race to develop better treatments for severe obesity has become one of the biggest battles in the pharmaceutical industry. Danish Novo Nordisk and American Eli Lilly have competed for years over patients, market share, and billions of dollars in sales. Now, the rivalry is moving from the medical world into the courtroom.
Misleading information
Novo Nordisk announced on Tuesday in a press release that it has filed a lawsuit against its American rival Eli Lilly over the way it markets its weight loss drugs in the United States.
The Danish pharmaceutical company claims that Eli Lilly has left out important information in advertisements for its weight loss medicines Zepbound and Mounjaro. Novo says this has given American consumers a misleading picture of how the drugs compare.
According to Novo, Eli Lilly has used outdated studies and compared the results from the highest approved doses of its own medicines with lower doses of Novo’s competing drug Wegovy.
“Pharmaceutical companies have a responsibility to be accurate and truthful in their public claims,” said John F. Kuckelman, Novo Nordisk’s chief legal officer.
The case focuses on several advertisements that compare the results from the maximum approved dose of Zepbound with results from a 2.4 milligram dose of Wegovy.
Novo argues that the advertisements leave out an important development. In March, U.S. health authorities approved a higher 7.2 milligram dose of Wegovy.
The company says the advertisements therefore do not give consumers the full picture when comparing the two treatments.
Novo wants fair play
Some of the advertisements have appeared during sports broadcasts and on social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok, reports Politiken.
The Danish company is now demanding that Eli Lilly remove the advertisements from all platforms. Novo also wants its rival to launch a new advertising campaign that corrects what it describes as inaccurate information.
If Eli Lilly does not agree to remove the advertisements voluntarily, Novo says it will move quickly to seek a court order that would stop the campaign.
The legal dispute adds another layer to an already fierce competition between the two pharmaceutical giants. Both companies have invested heavily in obesity treatments as demand for weight loss drugs has grown rapidly in recent years.
The lawsuit could now force the companies to defend their claims in court, while the wider battle over which drug offers the best results continues to play out among doctors, patients, and consumers.
