Novo Nordisk A/S aims to start selling its weight-loss blockbuster Wegovy in vials, its latest move to win over customers it's lost to rival Eli Lilly & Co.
Currently Novo sells the drug in plastic injector pens. Lilly launched vials nearly two years ago to offer a lower-priced version of its shot and alleviate shortages. It's unclear what Novo will charge for vials, but the company already has been aggressively discounting its obesity drugs to compete.
Novo needs to broaden its product offerings “to really capture the ambition that we have with many millions of people suffering from obesity,” Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar said in an interview at Bloomberg's New York headquarters. The company plans to introduce vials in the US first before selling them in other markets.
The plan to sell vials, which can offer patients more flexible dosing, is the latest in a series of moves by Novo to follow Lilly into areas of the market that have proved popular with consumers. The US company was first to sell its medicines directly to patients, and it was also first to partner with telehealth companies.
Novo is exploring various devices for Wegovy including vials, some of which will launch this year and others in the future, spokeswoman Liz Skrbkova said.
Lilly started selling vials of Zepbound in 2024 during a widespread supply shortage, as the drugmaker struggled to make enough pens to meet soaring demand. The company later cut the cash price of its vials by more than half, giving patients a more affordable option than the $1,000-a-month shots. The lowest-dose vials start at $299 a month and are available through Lilly's direct-to-consumer platform LillyDirect.
With vials, patients need to fill a syringe with the drug themselves. They are now Lilly's most popular offering, accounting for about a third of patients newly starting any weight-loss drug, Chief Executive Officer Dave Ricks said earlier this month.
Novo is relying on price cuts to lure more patients and claw back a bigger share of the obesity market. The Danish company is selling its Wegovy pill directly to consumers for as little as $149 a month. But in the short term, sinking prices will drive Novo's sales down as much as 13% this year, the company said last week.
Novo's shares have fallen 5.7% this year, after having their worst-ever year in 2025.
The past seven days, in particular, have whipsawed Novo's stock. On Feb. 5, Hims & Hers Health Inc. said it would sell its own version of Novo's Wegovy pill for just $49 a month, $100 less than what Novo charges. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration vowed to crack down on copycats, and Hims said it would abandon its pill launch. Novo is nevertheless now suing Hims over the knockoffs.
“If anyone can bypass the FDA and simply put any product into the market, then the system is broken,” Doustdar said in a separate interview on Bloomberg TV. Novo is continuing to pursue its lawsuit against Hims because the company believes there is danger in mass marketing of compounded products to everyone, he said.
Some 246,000 patients have started on the Wegovy pill since it went on sale in the US on Jan. 5, Doustdar told Bloomberg TV. He said its popularity could eventually outpace that of the injectable version of the drug.
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