Novo Nordisk Files Federal Lawsuit Against Eli Lilly in New Jersey
Novo Nordisk filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Eli Lilly in U.S. federal court, alleging that the company’s advertising for weight-loss drugs Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro is misleading. The Danish drugmaker claims Lilly uses outdated clinical data to falsely suggest its treatments provide superior weight loss compared to higher-dose versions of Wegovy. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, accuses Lilly of violating federal and state unfair competition and false advertising laws, including the Lanham Act.
Novo Nordisk Alleges Deceptive Advertising Practices
John Kuckelman Pursues Legal Action After Failed Cease-and-Desist Request
The legal battle comes as Novo Nordisk wages an aggressive battle against Lilly to regain market share in the GLP-1 space. According to the complaint, Lilly’s nationwide television and social media campaigns rely on comparisons between Lilly’s high-dose products and lower, older doses of Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic, rather than acknowledging more recent, higher-dose advancements. Novo Nordisk’s group general counsel, John Kuckelman, stated that the company had attempted to resolve the issue privately before turning to the courts. We feel that we have a very strong case here that we can show that Lily has indeed misled consumers with the advertising,
Kuckelman said in an interview on Monday. He noted that the company previously issued a formal cease-and-desist request to Lilly in April, which went unheeded.
Novo Nordisk Challenges Zepbound Clinical Data Accuracy
At the heart of the dispute is the clinical data used in advertisements. The lawsuit cites a television commercial presenting Zepbound and Wegovy in a direct side-by-side comparison, stating visually and verbally that patients on Lilly’s drug lose 50 pounds on average compared to 33 pounds on the 2.4-milligram dose of Novo’s treatment. Novo Nordisk argues these figures are based on trials that predate the approval of the 7.2-milligram dose of Wegovy, which entered the market in March. Novo asserts that its newer, higher-dose version of Wegovy achieves weight loss results of about 47 pounds, which the company describes as clinically consistent
with the weight loss seen in Lilly’s most recent rigorous trials for Zepbound, which showed about 48 pounds of weight loss.
The lawsuit highlights that while Lilly does include a disclaimer in its advertisements, it is inadequate. Novo Nordisk described the note as a “small footnote” that is ambiguous, confusing, virtually illegible, and wholly inadequate,
as it fails to communicate that the higher-dose Wegovy is significantly more effective than the lower doses previously cited. Furthermore, the filing claims that because there have been no head-to-head clinical trials comparing the highest currently available doses of both drugs, Lilly has no basis to make these comparative claims
regarding superior efficacy.
Novo Nordisk Seeks Injunction Against Eli Lilly’s Television Commercials
Legal Stakes and Future Market Impact
The lawsuit invokes the Lanham Act, a federal statute pharmaceutical companies have relied on in the past to hold competitors accountable for deceptive advertising. The suit alleges that Lilly’s campaigns are harmful because consumers often rely on advertising to form their understanding of GLP-1s, whereas healthcare professionals have access to the full scientific evidence. According to the filing, the Zepbound TV commercial has received more than 700 million impressions since it began airing around the end of April, which the company claims demonstrates the scale of the competitive harm.
Novo Nordisk is asking the court to permanently enjoin Lilly from running the current advertisements and to mandate a corrective advertising campaign. Kuckelman emphasized that the necessity of the suit extends beyond corporate competition. While it may have been accurate to say that before 7.2 milligrams became available for Wegovy, it is no longer accurate to say that,
Kuckelman said. They have, we think, a legal obligation, but even more important, they have a responsibility to patients to share accurate information.
Novo Nordisk has indicated that it plans to seek a preliminary injunction in the coming days to force the immediate removal of the ads while the litigation proceeds. Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the filing.
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