Novo Nordisk shares resilient as FDA approves Eli Lilly GLP-1 weight-loss pill to intensify competition Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock
Shares in Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) held firm and edged higher in early trading on Thursday despite the US Food and Drug Administration approving a new once-daily weight-loss pill from rival Eli Lilly that sets up a fresh phase of competition in the lucrative obesity drug market.
Novo stock rose 2.6% in opening deals on Thursday, suggesting investors and analysts had already priced in much of the competitive threat, with the Danish drugmaker’s shares having fallen almost 50% over the past year as rival drugs emerged to challenge the dominance of its Ozempic and Wegovy franchises.
Lilly shares jumped more than 5% on Wednesday after the FDA approved orforglipron, sold under the brand name Foundayo, for weight loss in overweight or obese adults.
The pill, which chief executive David Ricks described as obesity care designed for the real world, can be taken once a day without food or water restrictions and will begin shipping on 6 April through US retail pharmacies and telehealth providers.
Clinical trial results show Foundayo patients lost an average of 11.1% of body weight, compared with 20.2% for Lilly’s injectable Zepbound, underscoring the continued efficacy advantage of injection-based treatments.
Novo Nordisk’s own pill form of Wegovy, approved by the FDA in December, showed weight loss of approximately 14% in trials, ahead of Foundayo on that measure, while its injectable version delivered 15% weight loss.
The approval intensifies a battle between the two companies that has increasingly shifted from injections toward oral formulations, which carry a lower barrier to patient uptake.
Novo Nordisk’s Rybelsus was the first oral GLP-1 treatment, a class of drugs that mimic gut hormones to suppress appetite, to receive FDA approval, though for type 2 diabetes rather than weight loss.