What the court decided
Novo asked the court to halt Lilly's marketing immediately. US District Judge Zahid Quraishi declined on Monday, allowing the ads to run while the case proceeds and ordering Lilly to respond to the complaint. He wrote that Novo's filing did not show irreparable harm and offered only "speculative claims of harm." The lawsuit is pending before the federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, captioned Novo Nordisk v. Eli Lilly, 26-cv-9027.
What each side is arguing
Novo sued in July, alleging Lilly's GLP-1 advertising is "maliciously and deliberately false." The complaint says Lilly's ads claim users of Zepbound shed an average of 50 pounds, versus 33 pounds on Wegovy, relying on a head-to-head study published in 2025. Novo says those comparisons skipped its newer, higher Wegovy dose and points to two other studies it says are fairer: high-dose Wegovy averaged 47 pounds of weight loss, while Zepbound averaged 48 pounds. Novo says it is too early to report how many patients are using the highest dose.
Lilly urged the judge to reject both the preliminary injunction and Novo's request for corrective advertising, arguing in an Aug. 10 filing that "Lilly is beating Novo in the marketplace, and the reason is that Lilly's medicines are more effective in treating diabetes and obesity." At an Aug. 28 hearing, Lilly lawyer Gregg LoCascio said the ads are accurate and not false advertising, adding, "This case is clear." Lilly said it was pleased with the ruling. "Our focus has been and continues to be on the millions of people living with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases," the company, based in Indianapolis, said. Novo did not provide an immediate comment when asked.
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Market stakes and what's next
Both companies are chasing a global obesity-drug market that Bloomberg Intelligence pegs at 120 billion dollars a year by 2030. Novo initially held the advantage thanks to Wegovy, yet Lilly closed the gap with Zepbound and now tops the sales charts, making ad claims a high-stakes battleground. Novo wants to recover profits it says it lost because of Lilly's ads, plus triple that amount under US law, alleging violations of federal and state false-advertising and unfair-competition rules, including the Lanham Act. For now, the judge's order keeps Lilly's campaigns live as the lawsuit moves toward a fuller review, following a two-day hearing in late August.
Why it matters for your portfolio
Status quo ads help Lilly near term, while Novo leans on litigation - a strategy tied to CEO Mike Doustdar - and notes its higher Wegovy dose was approved in March and marketed starting in April, with uptake data too early to share. The bottom line: the court left the marketing battlefield unchanged, and the next catalyst is the merits fight over which comparisons count.
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