Despite ushering in the current GLP-1 era, Novo Nordisk has fallen behind its chief rival Eli Lilly, which has exceeded the Danish pharma in terms of sales.
In the first week since launching earlier this month, Novo Nordisk’s oral formulation of the obesity drug Wegovy has reached nearly 3,100 patients, an encouraging signal that could potentially help the Danish giant regain some investor confidence.
The pharma’s shares surged 6.5% on Friday, closing the trading session at $60.53, versus a previous price of $56.85. This close price also brings Novo to its peak trading price since September, according to reporting from Reuters.
Citing figures from health information firm IQVIA, analysts at Leerink Partners in a Jan. 16 note reported that oral Wegovy had reached 3,100 scripts by the week ending Jan. 9. Novo launched the pill Jan. 5. By comparison, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, sold as an autoinjector pen, reached approximately 1,300 new patients during its launch week in December 2023, the analysts pointed out.
Still, despite the pill’s encouraging first-week scripts, overall prescriptions for the Wegovy franchise, which includes an injectable form, dropped 11% week-on-week. Zepbound, in contrast, continued to increase 3% on a weekly basis, according to Leerink.
Last month, Novo won the oral obesity race with the FDA’s approval of the pill version of Wegovy. Phase III data for the drug showed 16.6% mean weight loss, matching the injectable version. In a Dec. 23 note, analysts at BMO Capital Markets said that the approval “gives Novo a much-needed win in light of recent challenges maintaining incretin market share dominance.”
Indeed, despite being an early leader in the GLP-1 space, Novo has lost much of the market to Lilly. During its first-quarter 2024 earnings call in May last year, the Danish pharma promised to improve the market situation for Wegovy—only to be met with skepticism from analysts. “I’m struggling to understand where the disconnect has been,” Peter Verdult, analyst at BNP Paribas, told company executives. “Do we have to consider your nearest branded competitor doing a better job?”
In the first nine months of 2025, Wegovy made $8.9 billion worldwide, while Ozempic—Novo’s sister semaglutide brand, indicated for type 2 diabetes—hit $14.8 billion. During the same period, Zepbound reached nearly $9.3 billion while Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro brought in $15.55 bllion.
Buoyed by the strong performance of its GLP-1 products, Lilly last month became the first pharma company to hit $1 trillion in market cap.
