MONEY
GLP-1 Drugs
Wegovy maker sues rival Eli Lilly over ‘deliberately false’ GLP-1 ads
Ken AlltuckerUSA TODAY
July 21, 2026, 8:05 a.m. ET
Novo Nordisk sued Eli Lilly on July 21 over what Novo said is false and misleading advertising comparing the effectiveness of the drug companies’ respective injectable weight-loss medicines
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, contends Lilly’s ads are “deliberately simple and deliberately false” because they tout “outdated clinical trials that compare the highest doses of the Lilly medicines to lower doses of Novo Nordisk’s medicines.”
Novo said the ads are deceptive because they present results as “proof of broad, product-level superiority while burying or omitting critical clinical context.”
John Kuckelman, Novo’s senior vice president and group general counsel, said Lilly’s ads have misled consumers
“What’s really in focus here is a nationwide pattern of deceptive advertising, where campaigns are misleading people with obesity and diabetes by comparing the highest doses of Lilly’s medicines with lower doses of Novo’s medicines,” Kuckelman told USA TODAY. “The patients are left with the misleading impression that Lilly’s drugs are superior to Novo’s.”
Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment
Novo Nordisk isn’t asking Lilly to stop selling the blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes medications. Rather, Novo is asking a judge to issue a permanent order requiring Lilly to pull its comparison ads across all platforms. It also wants the court to order Lilly to conduct a “corrective advertising campaign.”
The lawsuit comes as the two pharmaceutical companies are engaged in an intense battle over the market for popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which are mainly prescribed to treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes. While Novo was first on the market with its anti-obesity medication Wegovy, Lilly’s sales for weight-loss drug Zepbound have surged. Zepbound’s sales reached nearly $4.2 billion during the first three months of 2026, an increase of 80% from the year before
Analysts expect the weight-loss sector to generate about $100 billion in annual sales in the next decade, Reuters reported. More than a half dozen pharmaceutical companies are developing new versions of weight-loss drugs in the competitive markets
Both companies could benefit from millions of older adults who now might qualify for popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs 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 qualify for prescription weight-loss medication based on height, weight and other criteria. Medicare enrollees must pay a monthly $50 copay, and Medicare will cover the rest
Novo calls out Lilly’s ads
A Lilly television commercial compared the companies weight-loss drugs, stating that people using Lilly’s Zepbound lost an average of 50 pounds compared to an average of 33 pounds for Wegovy’s 2.4 milligram dose, the lawsuit said
The lawsuit said the commercial did not share results from a clinical trial that showed patients on a higher dose of Wegovy lost an average of 47 pounds. The Food and Drug Administration approved the higher, 7.2-milligram dose of Wegovy in March 2026
The lawsuit said Lilly used the “same misleading approach” in ads comparing the companies’ diabetes drugs, Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo’s Ozempic. Novo said the ads compared higher-dose versions of Mounjaro to lower-dose versions of Ozempic, even when a higher-dose version of Ozempic was available
Novo said Lilly’s ads have harmed its business
“Lilly’s false and misleading advertising diverts patient demand and prescriptions from Novo Nordisk’s medicines to Lilly’s medicines,” the lawsuit said
