Novo Nordisk sues Hims over scrapped $49 weight-loss pill copy
BNN Bloomberg
Novo Nordisk sued Hims and Hers Health on Monday over patent infringement after the U.S. telehealth firm launched, then canceled, a US$49 copy of Novo’s weight-loss pill Wegovy following backlash from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Novo’s shares jumped nearly seven per cent on Monday. Shares of Novo and rival Eli Lilly crashed last week after Hims introduced the cut-price pill, which had looked set to erode Novo’s takings and jeopardize its shift towards a cash-pay consumer market.
Hims’ imitation pill has faced a major fallout since, while analysts said the FDA’s rapid response signaled a potential broader crackdown on compounded GLP-1 drugs mixed by pharmacies. The FDA move could ease competition on the big manufacturers’ patented weight-loss treatments.
“They are not only declaring war on Hims & Hers’ Wegovy pill, but GLP-1 (compounders) in general,” said Sydbank analyst Soren Lontoft Hansen, a move that he said was positive for Novo Nordisk and rival Lilly’s branded obesity drugs.
Hims, whose pill was based on semaglutide which is used in Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, had said on Saturday it would stop offering the treatment after holding “constructive conversations with stakeholders.”
Shares of Hims sank 20 per cent in premarket trading, deepening earlier declines. Lilly’s shares, already near record highs, were up two per cent in premarket trading.
Facing a $1.4 billion deficit shortfall, the provincial government says its large-animal vet service will be privatized over the next three years.
Jurors wade through daunting evidence in high-stakes Meta trial about social media risks to children
A stream of testimony and evidence has been presented in a New Mexico case exploring what Meta knew about the effects of its platforms on children.
Markets in Canada and the U.S. continued to trade lower while oil went up late morning on Friday as inflationary fears prevailed among investors.
Gold prices fell by 1.8 per cent on Friday as the dollar strengthened on a report that the United States will deploy extra troops in the Middle East, fanning concerns of higher oil prices, inflation, and with it, elevated interest rates.
Canada’s federally backed farm lender is offering financial aid to farmers, agricultural businesses and food companies hit by the spike in fertilizer and energy prices, it said on Friday.
Statistics Canada says retail sales were up 1.1 per cent at $70.7 billion in January, led by sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
As Qatar reels from an Iranian attack that has hobbled its giant natural gas company, its boss, who doubles as the country’s energy minister, says he had warned officials and executives of just such a danger should Iran’s own sites be hit.
Top Picks from Greg Newman, Senior Wealth Advisor & Portfolio Manager, Newman Group, ScotiaMcLeod
Dan Tobon outlines key market wildcards, including geopolitical risks, AI disruption and shifting investor sentiment.
U.S. stocks are sinking Friday as hopes wither on Wall Street for a possible cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve this year because of the war with Iran.
Pinterest CEO Bill Ready called on world leaders to ban social media for youth under 16 in a LinkedIn post on Friday.
Wall Street is stumbling toward the finish line of a fourth straight losing week on Friday, but an ease in oil prices is taking some of the pressure off stock markets worldwide.
FedEx shares surged about 10 per cent before the bell on Friday, after the package-delivery giant raised its full-year profit forecast and signaled steady shipping demand despite geopolitical tensions and surging fuel costs.