Novo Nordisk Loses Court Ruling Over Eli Lilly Obesity Drug Ads

Novo Nordisk A/S lost a bid in a U.S. court to temporarily block Eli Lilly & Co. from using advertisements that claim its drugs are more powerful, a setback to Novo as it battles to regain a larger share of the obesity and diabetes drug markets.

U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi ruled Monday that Lilly can continue to make the disputed claims in its ads while Novo proceeds with a lawsuit it filed in July in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey. The judge said that Novo’s case for a preliminary injunction was “less than persuasive” because it failed to show irreparable harm.

The dispute involves two sets of ads by Lilly. In one, the drugmaker claims its Zepbound obesity drug is superior to Novo’s Wegovy weight-loss medication. In the other, Lilly says its Mounjaro controls type 2 diabetes better than Novo’s Ozempic. The suit claims the comparisons amount to false advertising because Lilly relied on research that didn’t examine higher doses of Novo’s drugs that are more effective than its lower doses.

Both drugmakers seek to boost their share of a global market for obesity treatments that Bloomberg Intelligence estimates could reach $120 billion a year by 2030. Novo once dominated the market with Wegovy, but Lilly caught up with Zepbound and now has the lead in sales.

Lilly said in a statement that it was pleased with the ruling.

“Our focus has been and continues to be on the millions of people living with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases,” the Indianapolis-based company said.

Novo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.