Novo Nordisk Deploys Multipronged Counteroffensive as Eli Lilly Gains Ground
Published on 07/09/2026 at 03:02 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Novo Nordisk is fighting back on multiple fronts as its rival Eli Lilly tightens its grip on the weight-loss market. From a restructuring in Asia to a novel implant partnership and fresh drug approvals in Singapore and Britain, the Danish drugmaker is racing to defend its position while seeking new sources of growth.
The competitive pressure is most visible in South Korea, where Novo Nordisk has merged its obesity and diabetes units and reshuffled management to accelerate decision-making. The moves come after Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro generated 323 billion won in first-quarter sales there — more than three times what Wegovy managed, despite Novo Nordisk having slashed Wegovy’s price by 40% in an attempt to stem market-share losses. In the United States, the situation is even starker: Lilly’s Zepbound now accounts for roughly 60% of the market, with more than 100,000 additional weekly prescriptions compared with Wegovy.
To counter the threat of “therapy fatigue” — a key reason patients abandon injectable weight-loss drugs — Novo Nordisk has struck a partnership with U.S. biotech company Vivani Medical. The deal centers on Vivani’s NanoPortal technology, a tiny implant placed under the skin that releases semaglutide steadily over months. If successful, the implant could free patients from weekly injections, potentially improving adherence and giving Novo Nordisk a differentiating weapon against Lilly’s lineup.
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On the regulatory front, the company secured two important wins. In Singapore, Wegovy received an updated local approval incorporating data from the recent STEP-UP study. The results were striking: one-third of patients lost at least 25% of their body weight over 72 weeks, with an average weight reduction of 21%. Crucially, the lost weight was almost exclusively fat, and patients reported a significant reduction in constant hunger. Meanwhile, in Britain, the MHRA approved Wegovy for a new indication — metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) with moderate to severe fibrosis. The approval is conditional, requiring Novo Nordisk to submit further clinical data from ongoing studies, but it opens a lucrative new market beyond simple weight loss.
Closer to home, Novo Nordisk is expanding its digital health offering. In Germany, it has launched a new care program for type 2 diabetes patients in collaboration with Smartpatient, a digital health provider. The initiative aims to provide continuous monitoring between doctor visits, adapting a support model already used in obesity care to diabetes management.
The flurry of pipeline advances and strategic moves has calmed investors. Novo Nordisk’s shares have surged roughly 17% to 21% over the past month, trading around €43. The stock has reclaimed both its 50-day moving average at €39.20 and its 200-day average, signaling renewed bullish momentum. The relative strength index sits in the low-to-mid 60s — comfortably in neutral-bullish territory but not yet overbought. Still, the year-to-date performance remains marginally negative, a reminder that the competitive assault from Eli Lilly has not been fully shrugged off. With quarterly results approaching, the next few weeks will test whether this rally has legs.
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