Lilly on Friday denied any wrongdoing, saying it stood by its promoting and would vigorously defend itself.
Novo and Lilly are battling for dominance within the weight problems drug market, which analysts count on to be price greater than $100 billion by the top of the last decade in the US alone.
Novo mentioned in an announcement on Friday that Lilly’s adverts had been primarily based on “outdated research”, giving a misunderstanding that the U.S. agency’s medicine are vastly superior.
“Novo Nordisk is looking for a courtroom order on an expedited foundation to make sure folks can entry the correct, full image of the remedies accessible to them right now,” it mentioned.
Novo’s lawsuit alleges that Lilly violated false promoting and unfair competitors legal guidelines via its campaigns for weight problems drug Zepbound and diabetes remedy Mounjaro.
Novo claimed Lilly in contrast the very best authorized doses of Zepbound and Mounjaro with decrease doses of Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic whereas omitting newer, higher-dose variations of Novo’s medicines that it says ship higher weight reduction. “Novo Nordisk has by no means examined its highest doses of semaglutide towards Lilly’s tirzepatide medicines in any scientific trial; as a substitute, it’s utilizing a lawsuit to advance comparisons it has by no means put to the check,” a Lilly spokesperson informed Reuters on Friday.
Novo’s lawsuit seeks a everlasting injunction requiring Lilly to withdraw the campaigns and conduct corrective promoting.
BMO analyst Evan Seigerman mentioned the lawsuit was a approach for Novo to attempt to change public notion of how the 2 corporations’ medicine carry out.
“What it exhibits from my perspective is that Novo is taking a extra aggressive stance in managing its enterprise, they are not simply going to let Lilly say no matter they need,” Seigerman mentioned.
Sven Borho, managing companion at Orbimed, mentioned Novo ought to concentrate on its pipeline, including that “Lilly has been outcompeting them on the R&D entrance as effectively”.
“Going to courtroom isn’t going to assist them of their advertising battle,” mentioned Borho, whose agency manages the portfolio of Lilly shareholder Worldwide Healthcare Belief, which additionally owned a short-term place in Novo till Could.
