A pharmacist displays a box of Wegovy pills at a pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on January 15, 2026.
George Frey | Bloomberg | Getty Images
shares of novo nordisk Early prescribing data showed the U.S. launch of the company’s new obesity drug GLP-1 is off to an encouraging start, with shares up more than 8% on Friday.
Analysts at TD Cowen called it a “solid start” for the first-ever weight loss drug in a note Friday, but said “one data point does not set a trend.” They cautioned that more data needs to be seen to fully assess early demand for Wegovy tablets, which were officially launched on January 5 after winning approval in late December.
Still, the initial data provides a boost to the Danish drugmaker’s hopes of winning back more market share from its biggest rival. Eli Lillythe obesity and diabetes drug market is booming this year. Eli Lilly is narrowly behind Novo Nordisk in the tablet space, with majority market share expected in early 2025 and preparations for the upcoming launch of its own oral bariatric drug.
Leerink Partners analyst David Reisinger said in a note Friday, citing IQVIA data for the week ending Jan. 9, that about 3,100 prescriptions for Wigovy tablets were filled in the first week of release. He noted that about 1,300 prescriptions were filled in the first week of commercial launch for Eli Lilly’s popular obesity injection Zepbound, and about 8,000 prescriptions were filled in the second week. The shot won U.S. approval in late 2023.
Analysts at TD Cowen cited slightly different data published by Symphony via Bloomberg.
Analysts said there were about 4,290 prescriptions for Novo Nordisk’s tablets in the first full week of its release, most of them for starting doses. They added that the data from the source or IQVIA likely does not include prescriptions through Novo Nordisk’s direct-to-consumer pharmacies or telemedicine partners.
That compares to about 1,900 prescriptions filled in Zepbound’s first full week on the market, analysts said.
Assuming Symphony’s data is accurate, the drug “has already outperformed the injectable at the same stage of launch,” TD Cowen analyst Michael Nedelkovic wrote in a note. A more direct comparison between pills and shots could be made based on data available early next week, but the numbers may not be very useful for a few more quarters, he added.
Nedelkovic said he would like to know the full scope of the direct-to-consumer channel, where there is “high expectations” for the drug’s release.
Demand could also change if Eli Lilly’s Orforglipron pill hits the market in the coming months, he added.
Novo Nordisk’s drug had a head start, but the drug is a peptide drug with dietary restrictions (no eating or drinking for 30 minutes after taking the tablet with water), which can interfere with its uptake. Eli Lilly’s tablets do not have these limitations because they are small molecule drugs, not peptides.
