Key facts
- Novo Nordisk is seeking a preliminary U.S. court injunction to block Eli Lilly's advertisements for obesity and diabetes drugs.
- The lawsuit alleges Lilly's advertising is misleading and confuses consumers by using outdated studies.
- Novo Nordisk claims Lilly's ads compare higher doses of its own drugs against lower doses of Novo Nordisk's medications.
- Novo Nordisk argues that Lilly's campaigns omit critical scientific evidence about newer, more effective treatment options.
- Eli Lilly denies any wrongdoing and stated it will vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.
Novo Nordisk announced it is seeking a preliminary injunction from a U.S. court to immediately halt advertisements by Eli Lilly for its obesity and diabetes drugs. The Danish pharmaceutical company alleges that Lilly's nationwide advertising campaigns are deceptive and confuse consumers by using outdated studies to compare the highest injectable doses of Lilly's medicines against lower doses of Novo Nordisk's products.
According to Novo Nordisk, these campaigns create a misleading impression of superiority for Lilly's medicines by omitting critical scientific evidence about newer, more effective FDA-approved options, such as the 7.2 mg dose of Wegovy® (semaglutide), which demonstrated an average weight loss of approximately 19% or 47 pounds. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, cites multiple violations of federal and state false advertising and unfair competition laws, including under the Lanham Act.
Novo Nordisk stated that this action follows Lilly's refusal to correct or pull down certain advertisements despite a formal cease-and-desist request. Eli Lilly, however, has denied any wrongdoing, stated it stands by its advertising, and indicated it would vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit. The rivalry between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly for dominance in the obesity drug market is intense, with analysts projecting the market to exceed $100 billion by the end of the decade in the U.S. alone.