Two global pharmaceutical companies that manufacture GLP-1 class obesity treatments have signaled a looming legal battle. Provided by Getty Image Bank
Two pharmaceutical giants that dominate the global obesity drug market have clashed over advertising for their obesity treatments. Analysts say the fight to seize control of the rapidly growing obesity drug market, now worth hundreds of billions of dollars, has intensified.
According to foreign media outlets including Reuters and CBC on the 22nd, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, maker of the popular obesity drug Wegovy, has filed a lawsuit in a US court seeking to ban allegedly false and exaggerated advertising by US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which manufactures another popular obesity drug, Mounjaro.
Novo Nordisk claims that Eli Lilly is deceiving consumers with marketing that uses outdated clinical data and has filed a lawsuit in the US federal court in New Jersey to halt the advertisements.
Eli Lilly advertised that Mounjaro is more effective than Wegovy based on the results of a 2024 comparative clinical trial (SURMOUNT-5). It promoted that patients lost an average of 50 pounds (about 22.7 kg) when taking Mounjaro, compared with a 33-pound (about 15 kg) reduction when taking Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk countered that Eli Lilly compared the highest-dose Mounjaro product with a low-dose Wegovy product, calling it misleading advertising. Novo Nordisk explained that it obtained new US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in March this year for a high-dose Wegovy product (7.2 mg) and launched it, and that when high doses are compared, the difference in weight-loss efficacy between the two treatments is minimal.
Novo Nordisk has requested that all advertisements comparing the two treatments be completely suspended and that corrective ads be issued to rectify the inaccurate information. The company is also seeking to recover and claim damages for the unjust profits Eli Lilly allegedly gained through false and deceptive advertising.
Eli Lilly responded that the clinical trial data underpinning the advertisements are reliable research results that directly compared the two companies’ products. Eli Lilly also criticized Novo Nordisk for trying to hide scientific evidence by turning to the courts instead of engaging in fair market competition. The company stated it will respond vigorously to the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Mounjaro became the world’s top-selling medicine in terms of sales in the first quarter of this year, generating 8.7 billion dollars in revenue. Wegovy recorded approximately 3 billion dollars in sales, combining its injectable and oral (pill) formulations
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