novo nordisk CEO Mike Doosder on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to sue its rivals. Eli Lilly About advertisements for weight loss drugs.
“I love competition. I think competition has to be fierce, but I also think competition has to be fair,” Dusdahl said on CNBC’s “Mad Money.” “I believe patients have the right to know the full truth with their doctors before choosing which products to take.”
Novo Nordisk filed a lawsuit last month alleging that advertising for Lilly’s blockbuster injectable GLP-1 drug misleads consumers about its effectiveness compared to Novo’s competing treatments. Lilly said in a statement at the time that the company “stands firmly behind our advertising.”
In its ads, Lilly cites head-to-head trials of its obesity drug Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s rival drug Wegoby. The results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine in May 2025. Trial data showed that with Zepbound’s maximum tolerated dose of 10 mg or 15 mg over 72 weeks, average weight loss was 20.2% (approximately 50 pounds), compared to 13.7% (approximately 33 pounds) with Wegovy’s then maximum tolerated dose of 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg.
Dusdahl argued that Lilly’s comparisons do not provide consumers with the full picture because consumers are relying on Novo’s lower-dose version of Wegoby, rather than the company’s new higher-dose 7.2 mg product, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in March. Novo conducted a study of Wegovy 7.2mg and announced that it showed an average weight loss of about 19%, or 47 pounds, over 72 weeks. This was much closer to the maximum dose of Zepbound in previous studies.
“We believe that the advertising they are doing is true but not the complete picture,” Dusdahl said. “It’s built on older generations and older doses of these products,” he added. “People need to know that there are more advanced versions of Wegovy on the market with different profiles, so they can make a choice and decide which product is best for them.”
Asked for comment, an Eli Lilly spokesperson said: “We are pleased that the CEO of Novo Nordisk has confirmed what we have been saying all along: Lilly’s advertising is true. Regarding the suggestion that Wigoby HD is equivalent to Zepbound, that comparison is not supported by any head-to-head clinical studies. “We know that, and that’s why you’ve never heard them say this in paid consumer advertising. The reality is that Zepbound is the most prescribed.” U.S. obesity drug Lilly stands by its science and has conducted the only head-to-head trial comparing the two drugs. ”
The legal battle comes amid increasing competition between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly across the fast-growing GLP-1 market. Dusdahl acknowledged that Lilly is gaining market share, especially with injectable weight-loss drugs. Novo stock has fallen 6% since the lawsuit was filed, while Eli Lilly’s has risen nearly 4%.
“In fact, it’s no secret that Lilly has been very successful in the injectables space, capturing more volume and market share than Novo,” Doosdahl said.
At the same time, Dusdahl promoted the company’s new Wegovy pill, which was released in early January after being approved by the FDA in late December 2025. He said more than 5 million prescriptions had been filled in the U.S. and claimed that Wigovy tablets were “the best new product in the history of medicine.”
Lilly has its own weight loss drug called Foundayo, which was approved by the FDA on April 1 and began shipping a few days later. Wegovy’s pills have a head start, and that was evident in Lilly’s latest earnings report. Foundayo performed well, but fell short of expectations as it strives to raise consumer awareness.
Lilly is a stock in the Jim Cramer Charitable Trust, a portfolio used by the CNBC Investment Club.
