Overview
- Novo Nordisk filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on July 21 alleging that Eli Lilly’s national ads for Zepbound and Mounjaro are false and materially misleading.
- The suit says Lilly compared its highest-dose trial results to older, lower-dose data for Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and omitted newer, higher-dose evidence that would alter the impression of product superiority.
- Novo has asked the court to order removal of the ads, require corrective statements and has signaled it will seek a preliminary injunction if Lilly does not halt the campaigns voluntarily.
- The company brought the claim under the Lanham Act, the U.S. law that allows competitors to sue over false advertising, and the case is pending with no court ruling reported yet.
- The dispute highlights high commercial stakes in the GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes market, where U.S. direct-to-consumer promotion drives prescribing and could make a court decision a precedent that forces clearer rules on cross-study and dose comparisons in drug advertising.