Wegovy's Strong Start: Novo Nordisk Shares Jump

Novo Nordisk's shares got a nice boost on Friday. They went up by more than 5% after some early reports came out. These reports showed that their new obesity pill, Wegovy, is doing well in the U. S. market. The pill, which is the first of its kind for weight loss, had a good start. But experts say it's too early to tell if this is just a one-time thing or a real trend. They want to see more data to understand how strong the demand really is. Wegovy hit the market on January 5th. It got approved at the end of December. This launch is important for Novo Nordisk. They want to take back some market share from their big rival, Eli Lilly. Eli Lilly has been doing well in the obesity and diabetes drug market. They have a popular injection called Zepbound. It got approved in late 2023. In its first week, Zepbound had around 1, 300 prescriptions filled. By the second week, that number jumped to about 8, 000.Now, Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill had around 3, 100 prescriptions filled in its first week. That's according to data from IQVIA. But other data from Symphony, shared through Bloomberg, shows a higher number. They say around 4, 290 prescriptions were filled in the first full week. The difference in numbers might be because the data doesn't include prescriptions from Novo Nordisk's direct-to-consumer pharmacy or their telehealth partners. Experts think this channel could be a big deal for Wegovy's success. But there's a catch. Wegovy is a peptide medication. That means people have to follow strict dietary rules when taking it. They can't eat or drink anything for 30 minutes after taking the pill with water. This might make some people hesitate to use it. Eli Lilly's upcoming pill, orforglipron, doesn't have these restrictions. It's a small molecule drug, not a peptide. This could give Eli Lilly an edge when their pill hits the market in the next few months.