Quote from the NBC article:
GLP-1 drugs may be linked to a lower risk of cancer progression, according to new research that will be presented next week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting.
Bagsværd, Denmark, 22 May 2026 - Novo Nordisk today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) under the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion, recommending marketing authorisation of Wegovy® 7.2 mg (once-weekly injectable semaglutide 7.2 mg) in a single-dose pen for people living with obesity. Wegovy® 7.2 mg is already available in the EU for adults with obesity, dosed as three injections of 2.4 mg, and is based on results from the STEP UP trial programme.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended it today.
The next step is for the European Commission to review the EMA recommendation before granting marketing authorization, so stay tuned, but it should come soon.
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Bagsværd, Denmark, 22 May 2026 – Novo Nordisk today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) under the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion, recommending marketing authorisation of Wegovy® pill (once-daily oral semaglutide 25 mg) to reduce excess body weight and maintain long-term weight reduction. The positive opinion also includes SELECT data in the label, demonstrating that Wegovy® reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE)*.
Wegovy pill data.
UPDATE: May 15, 2026
Total prescriptions for Eli Lilly’s Foundayo reached 10,248 for the week that ended May 8, up from 7,335 the prior week, according to IQVIA data cited by Citi. While still on the rise, Foundayo’s growth pace continued to lag behind that of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill during the same stage of their launch.
Wegovy’s total scripts rose by 1.3% week over week to nearly 446,000, as its share in the obesity GLP-1 market climbed 0.1 percentage point to 40.5%, according to Citi.
However, Wegovy’s growth apparently didn’t come from its oral formulation. Wegovy pill scripts landed at about 137,000 for the week, down from roughly 143,000 the prior week, marking the first time that the pill's scripts have fallen since the oral launch in early January.
Scripts from the Wegovy pill made up 31% of total Wegovy scripts for the period, down 2 percentage points from the previous week. Still, Citi analysts argued that this roughly one-third of share “suggests preferences for oral formulations.”
Even as Wegovy gained ground, Lilly’s Zepbound remained the obesity market leader, with 59.5% share, as its nearly 656,000 scripts marked 0.8% growth week over week.
The data for the week ending Friday, May 8th, was released this morning, May 15th.
The table shows new prescription data for NVO obesity products (3) vs. LLY obesity products (2). Foundayo contributed 7,335 to the latest Lilly total. The Wegovy franchise is still outselling LLY by a considerable margin.
Total prescriptions (data not shown) give a snapshot of where the market is today (NVO at 40% share), while new prescriptions show where it's going (NVO at 67% share). This new prescription data shows we're outselling LLY by a 2 to 1 margin, with 2/3rds of the new prescriptions.
Note that the NVO products launched this year (W Pill and W HD) now have 37% of the total new Wegovy prescriptions, and we're still early in the year. These two launches are big wins. Without the new products, it would be 277,210 NVO to 219,835 LLY.
However, with the new products, it's grown to 440,410 NVO to 219,835 LLY. That's a huge gain in very little time. I constructed the table from the raw data this way, because I think that other presentations are misleading. This shows the big picture in a simple, easy-to-digest format.
Bottom Line:
Many people stop taking GLP-1s after a year (due to cost, side effects, and needle fatigue), so the new prescription data looks promising for NVO, especially since their new new pill addresses needle fatigue and the new subscription model addresses cost and helps to lock in long-term customers.
This new prescription data hasn't flowed through yet (in a meaningful way) to the revenue and earnings just released for Q1, but the story could look very different a year from now. Please have patience my friends. NVO is doing the right things, and short-term movements in the stock price are meaningless, unless you're day trading.
I did not provide an analysis of the diabetes market for NVO vs. LLY, where LLY is currently winning. As the brand new Ozempic pill, just launched, gains traction, I think we'll see parallel results to the Wegovy pill in obesity. But again, this is a long game, and I don't have market data yet to prove that point.
In a post-hoc analysis of the STEP UP trial, premenopausal women with obesity lost an average of 22.6% of body weight on once-weekly high-dose Wegovy, or semaglutide 7.2 mg, compared with placebo
If HIMS continues to deliver 20,000 new customers a week to NVO, that's 1 million new customers a year for us.
May 12, 2026 02:00 ET | Source: Novo Nordisk A/S
Early responders (15% or more weight loss after 24 weeks) to the higher dose of Wegovy® (semaglutide 7.2 mg) achieved on average 27.7% mean weight loss at week 72 in the STEP UP trial1
Participants treated with the higher dose of Wegovy® reached weight loss goals faster as compared to semaglutide 2.4 mg1
The majority of the weight loss comes from losing body fat: 84% of weight loss with Wegovy® (semaglutide 2.4 and 7.2 mg) can be attributed to reductions in fat mass, while preserving muscle function and improving muscle health2
Bagsværd, Denmark, 12 May 2026 – Novo Nordisk is presenting a new sub-analysis from the large clinical trial STEP UP at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) on 12-15 May in Istanbul, Türkiye, showing that the higher dose of the weight loss drug Wegovy® is highly effective at helping people with obesity lose significant amounts of weight regardless of how quickly their body responds to the treatment1.
Moreover, a separate STEP UP sub-analysis presented at ECO shows that most of the weight loss with Wegovy® was coming from body fat, and most of the muscle mass was kept2.
The STEP UP trial in people with obesity tested the higher dose of semaglutide (7.2 mg) against the 2.4 mg dose and placebo over 72 weeks in over 1,400 adults living with obesity without type 2 diabetes3. The results were striking. On average, people taking the 7.2 mg dose lost 21% of their total body weight – the equivalent of around 23 kg for the average person in the trial who weighed 113 kg before starting treatment with semaglutide3. People on the 2.4 mg dose lost about 17.5% within 72 weeks, while those on the placebo lost 2.4%3. The 21% weight loss with semaglutide 7.2 mg was achieved with a safety and tolerability profile consistent with the 2.4 mg semaglutide dose3.
A new analysis has revealed insights into how fast and how much weight loss people who respond differently can expect, and the findings are presented at ECO. ‘Early responders’ were identified as people who lost 15% or more of their body weight within just the first 24 weeks (about 6 months) of treatment1. About 1 in 4 people (27%) taking the 7.2 mg dose of Wegovy® had an early response, compared with about 1 in 5 (21%) on the 2.4 mg dose and 3% on placebo1. The early responder group lost 27.7% of their body weight at week 721.
“Obesity as a chronic disease demands lifelong, holistic treatment. Early weight loss may indicate who is likely to achieve the most weight loss from semaglutide – but it is important to highlight that those without an ‘early’ treatment response still experience a substantial and clinically meaningful weight loss. These new insights from the STEP UP sub-analysis presented at ECO can help healthcare professionals with managing expatiations and setting goals with their patients when initiating obesity medications and potentially support long-term persistence to treatments,” said Dr Dror Dicker, associate clinical professor of Internal Medicine at The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Improved muscle health Another secondary analysis from a sub-population (55 participants) in the STEP UP trial studied body scan images (MRI) showing that 84% of the lost weight with semaglutide (2.4 and 7.2 mg) was due to a reduction in fat mass2. The abdominal visceral fat was reduced by over 30% with semaglutide2. Muscle mass was reduced by only 10% compared to baseline with semaglutide, and importantly, this was accompanied by improved muscle health, as assessed by the amount of muscle fat2. Both visceral and muscle fat are highly associated with the risk of cardiometabolic complications4-6. This means the drug was highly effective at specifically targeting fat in different body depots. Importantly, participants taking semaglutide maintained their functional muscle strength, even as they lost significant weight2. Muscle function was measured using a 30-second sit-to-stand test, which showed the same functional muscle strength in both the semaglutide and placebo groups before and after treatment2. Together, these results underscore the healthy improvements seen with semaglutide in body composition and muscle function2.
"The analyses from STEP UP presented at ECO are really promising, further highlighting the potential of the higher dose of Wegovy® to achieve substantial weight loss. Importantly, for individuals focused on losing weight, the goal is often to reduce fat rather than muscle mass. These studies show that weight loss with Wegovy® is predominantly driven by reductions in fat, while muscle function is preserved. This is great news for people living with obesity,” said Emil Kongshøj Larsen, executive vice president and head of International Operations at Novo Nordisk.
The results of the STEP UP sub-analysis of semaglutide’s improvement of body composition have been submitted for publication to a scientific journal.
At 2 min 25 sec into the interview, the CEO says that NVO now has 65% of the new weight loss prescriptions, compared to LLY with a 35% market share. THIS COMPLETELY CHANGES EVERYTHING.
US people on the East Coast, set your alarms.
With earnings coming tomorrow, this is a nice preview article from Reuters.
This is the reason for the 3% drop in LLY this morning, and why NVO spiked 2% to $45 in the premarket.
Here is the Gemini AI condensed breakdown of the last 5 weeks of market activity.
GLP-1 Market Shift: 5-Week Snapshot (Apr 3 – May 1, 2026)
The last month has seen a dramatic shift in the "Obesity Brand" war. While Eli Lilly dominates total volume via Mounjaro in the diabetes sector (60.1% total market share), Novo Nordisk has surged to a 67% share in the obesity-specific category by leveraging its new "Triple Wegovy" strategy.
Wegovy Portfolio: Standard Injection, Wegovy HD (7.2mg), and Wegovy Pill (Oral).
Week Ending Apr 03 (Wegovy HD Launch)
Wegovy Total Rx: 331,700 | Zepbound Total Rx: 261,000
New Rx Share: Wegovy 56% | Zepbound 44%
Week Ending Apr 10
Wegovy Total Rx: 361,400 | Zepbound Total Rx: 261,800
New Rx Share: Wegovy 58% | Zepbound 42%
Week Ending Apr 17
Wegovy Total Rx: 443,600 | Zepbound Total Rx: 255,500
New Rx Share: Wegovy 63% | Zepbound 37%
Week Ending Apr 24
Wegovy Total Rx: 487,000 | Zepbound Total Rx: 273,000
New Rx Share: Wegovy 64% | Zepbound 36%
Week Ending May 01
Wegovy Total Rx: 533,500 | Zepbound Total Rx: 262,000
New Rx Share: Wegovy 67% | Zepbound 33%
This remains Eli Lilly's primary volume stronghold.
Week Ending Apr 03
Ozempic/Rybelsus Total Rx: 802,000 | Mounjaro Total Rx: 1,090,000
New Rx Share: Ozempic 39% | Mounjaro 61%
Week Ending Apr 10
Ozempic/Rybelsus Total Rx: 795,000 | Mounjaro Total Rx: 1,120,000
New Rx Share: Ozempic 38% | Mounjaro 62%
\Week Ending Apr 17
Ozempic/Rybelsus Total Rx: 790,000 | Mounjaro Total Rx: 1,145,000
New Rx Share: Ozempic 37% | Mounjaro 63%
Week Ending Apr 24
Ozempic/Rybelsus Total Rx: 785,000 | Mounjaro Total Rx: 1,180,000
New Rx Share: Ozempic 36% | Mounjaro 64%
Week Ending May 01
Ozempic/Rybelsus Total Rx: 780,000 | Mounjaro Total Rx: 1,210,000
New Rx Share: Ozempic 35% | Mounjaro 65%
Key Takeaways: April’s "Wegovy Surge"
Wegovy HD Adoption: The launch of the 7.2mg (HD) injectable in late March successfully undercut Zepbound's momentum. Its $399 cash-pay price has significantly cannibalized the high-potency segment that Lilly previously led.
The Oral Preference: The Wegovy Pill is the primary driver of Novo’s volume growth. In just 5 weeks, the oral version's weekly prescriptions have grown substantially, proving that "needle fatigue" is a massive market factor.
Mounjaro’s Dominance: Despite Novo’s gains in obesity, Mounjaro remains the most prescribed single GLP-1/GIP drug in the world, growing to over 1.2M weekly scripts as of May 1.
Positive media coverage on today's pill launch..
While this is essentially a rebrand of Rybelsus, there are a few strategic and technical reasons why this isn't just a "non-event" for an investor.
Here is the breakdown of what is changing and why it matters.
The primary reason for the name change is brand equity.
The "Ozempic" Halo: Ozempic is a household name with massive cultural and clinical momentum. Rybelsus, despite containing the same active ingredient (semaglutide), never achieved the same level of recognition. By bringing the oral version under the Ozempic umbrella, Novo Nordisk is capitalizing on existing consumer demand and doctor familiarity.
Individualized Care: It simplifies the conversation for doctors. Instead of choosing between two different brands, they can now simply prescribe "Ozempic" and then decide whether the patient prefers a weekly needle or a daily pill.
There is a change in milligrams—this is actually a key part of the "new" product launch:
Dose Standardization: The old Rybelsus doses were 3 mg, 7 mg, and 14 mg. The "Ozempic pill" will launch in 1.5 mg, 4 mg, and 9 mg strengths.
The Benefit: Novo Nordisk is marketing these as smaller tablets with a refined formulation to maintain efficacy at these lower milligram counts. A smaller pill is generally associated with better patient adherence and fewer "pill fatigue" issues.
Will people want to switch from the injection to the pill? The answer is: not necessarily.
Expanding the Funnel: The pill is designed for patients who are "needle-phobic" or whose lifestyle makes refrigerated injections difficult (e.g., frequent travelers). It also targets early-stage Type 2 diabetics who might not be ready for "shots" yet.
Manufacturing Advantage: Unlike the injections, which require specialized "fill-finish" capacity and pens (the main bottleneck for supply in the last few years), the oral version is manufactured end-to-end in the U.S. using traditional tableting technology. This helps Novo bypass the supply chain issues that have plagued the injectable versions.
Insurance Coverage: Since it is FDA-approved for Type 2 diabetes (and includes an indication for reducing cardiovascular risk), it will be widely covered by most insurance plans. Most eligible patients with insurance can expect to pay as little as $25 for a 3-month supply.
Cash Pay / Self-Pay: Unlike Rybelsus, which had more limited direct-to-consumer pricing, Novo is launching a "self-pay" option for the Ozempic pill through NovoCare Pharmacy and certain telehealth providers. Prices for cash-paying customers are expected to start around $149 per month, which is significantly lower than the $1,000+ list price often seen for Rybelsus.
Where will Novo Nordisk stock end the week?
Monday - Ozempic pill launches in US
Wednesday - 1st quarter earnings released
Friday - weekly prescription data released