It’s been a wild ride leading to major headlines for Novo Nordisk, maker of the diabetes treatment drug Ozempic, but it really doesn’t have all that much to do with diabetes.
The drug costs users up to $1,350 per month and it earned the Denmark-based drug manufacturer $8.6 billion in 2022.
That’s primarily due to a drug component called semaglutide, which also happens to be the critical ingredient in Ozempic and in two additional Novo drugs - Nordisk’s Wegovy obesity drug and Rybelsus, another diabetes treatment.
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Now, word has gotten out on all three drugs to dieters from suburban soccer moms to Hollywood celebrities who’ve been using the Novo drugs to try and lose weight.
That’s led to high demand for similar semaglutide-based drugs and has fueled a cottage industry of companies issuing what Novo claims are knockoff drugs that leverage the weight loss drug component.
Novo is fighting back and is using the US courts to do so. The drugmaker on June 20 filed suit in four US federal courts – in Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and New York - according to The Wall Street Journal.
The legal filings cite numerous targets, including five spas and clinics in the four states that it accuses of fraudulent behavior, including the “unlawful marketing, promotional and sales practices, such as using Novo Nordisk trademarks and falsely stating their compounded drugs were genuine Novo Nordisk products or FDA approved,” according to The Journal.
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Novo Nordisk has requested the courts take legal means to stop the companies cited from stating their drugs include containing semaglutide. The lawsuit also demands they stop claiming their weight loss drugs have anything to do with Novo Nordisk.
The drugmaker has plenty at stake in the North American market, where profits were up 41% at constant exchange rates in the first quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, the company's obesity care sales rose by 131% over the same time period.
That’s reason enough for Novo Nordisk to protect its brand – and in this instance, it’s going to court to prove it aims to do so.
