Following two consecutive years of declines, Novo Nordisk (NVO) has made a strong start to the new year, outperforming its weight loss rival Eli Lilly (LLY) mainly due to its Wegovy pill, which has reportedly exceeded 16K U.S. prescriptions in the second full week after its launch.
Novo (NVO) ADRs have plunged in 2024 and 2025, contrasting Lilly’s (LLY) sharp gains as the Indiana-based drugmaker went on to capture a roughly 60% share in the lucrative obesity drug market.
However, the Danish drugmaker has outperformed Lilly (LLY) so far this year, adding ~16% compared to LLY’s (LLY) ~4% drop as the U.S. company awaits FDA approval of its oral weight loss therapy orforglipron.
Novo (NVO) already holds the first-mover advantage in the market for oral obesity drugs after the U.S. regulator approved the Wegovy pill in December, paving the way for its market launch early this month.
Latest data from IQVIA (IQV) highlights its advantage. Citing data from the healthcare analytics firm, Reuters reported on Friday that the Wegovy pill has been prescribed 26,109 times for the week ending January 23, which, according to Barclays analysts, suggests a strong launch for the oral drug.
Last week, it was reported that the once-daily GLP-1 drew 18,410 prescriptions in the first week after its launch.