Novo Nordisk’s Legal Kill Shot Wiped Out the Wegovy Copycats… and the Numbers Don’t Lie

Back in high school, we took a class trip to New York City. We hit the usual tourist spots… Times Square, Statue of Liberty, all that. But the part I remember most vividly? Chinatown. Within five minutes, a guy popped out of a side alley, unzipped a black duffel bag, and started showing off “Rolexes” that definitely did not come from Switzerland. Of course, I bought one. It ticked like a stopwatch and turned my wrist green, but hey… it was 30 bucks. Cheaper was good enough.

That’s pretty much what was happening with Wegovy knockoffs. Until Novo Nordisk showed up and said, “Yeah, we’re gonna need to shut this whole operation down.”

Back in April, Novo launched a legal blitz against compounding pharmacies and telehealth providers that had been whipping up low-cost, unauthorized versions of its semaglutide-based drugs… Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for diabetes. These pharmacies were technically allowed to operate under FDA shortage rules, but once the feds declared the shortage resolved, Novo moved in fast. Over 100 lawsuits later, a federal judge sided with Novo and blocked the sale of those cheaper alternatives.

At the time, it seemed like a headline-grabbing moment. But now the numbers are out… and it looks more like a clean kill. Today, Novo’s stock is up 3% after the company said Wegovy sales are expected to ramp up in the back half of the year, thanks to the disappearance of bargain-bin competition. It’s like shutting down every dollar store coffee stand in the country and then wondering why Starbucks sales magically shot up.

Now if you’ve been following along, demand for Wegovy has been through the roof all year, but Novo couldn’t keep up. Pharmacies were staring at empty shelves. That’s when compounders stepped in, offering “bootleg” semaglutide at lower prices. They weren’t FDA-approved, but they filled the gap… and for many people, they worked.

Then April hit. The FDA cleared the shortage designation, and Novo wasted no time. Their legal team filed suit after suit, arguing that the compounded products infringed on Novo’s IP and violated drug safety regulations. The court agreed. Just like that, the copycats were gone. With the discount players pushed off the field, Novo’s back in control. Right now, more than 25,000 new Wegovy prescriptions are being written in the U.S. every week. And in Q1, Wegovy sales spiked 83% to $2.65 billion. Ozempic brought in another $5 billion… up 15% from last year.

Even with those amazing numbers, Novo lowered its full-year sales forecast slightly. They now expect 2025 revenue growth between 13% and 21%, down from the original range of 16% to 24%. The reason is simple. Production can’t keep up. Demand isn’t the problem… supply is.

So what does Novo do? They’re throwing $11 billion at the bottleneck, acquiring three manufacturing plants from Catalent to increase output. When people are desperate to lose 20 pounds before summer, you don’t wait on delayed shipments.

Still, Novo’s not the only one with skin in the game. Eli Lilly’s Zepbound has already leapfrogged Wegovy in weekly U.S. prescriptions. It’s got momentum, fewer supply issues, and a growing share of the spotlight. And now AstraZeneca is throwing $2 billion into a new GLP-1 partnership, hoping to carve out a piece of the action.

Novo won this round. No doubt about it. But with rivals lining up and manufacturing still a question mark, the war is far from over. Wegovy might be the hottest name in weight-loss meds today. But just like that fake Rolex from Chinatown, there’s always something flashier waiting around the corner.

PS: It’s a mess out there.

One day the market’s ripping, the next day it’s Black Monday all over again. Recent earning’s reports have been a total coin flip. One stock beats and explodes 30%… the next misses by a penny and gets sent to the Shadow Realm. And through it all, everyone’s begging for Jerome Powell to finally cave and cut rates.

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We’re seeing violent price action. Especially in the small-cap space, where low floats and high anxiety are creating the perfect recipe for 100%+ pops before lunchtime. Some of these names are moving 200%+ in under 24 hours… and to our knowledge, NO ONE else is covering them.

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Stock.News does not have positions in companies mentioned.