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Novo Nordisk (NVO) Stock Drops as Legal War Erupts Over $49 Wegovy Knockoff

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NVO Stock Card

TLDR

  • Novo Nordisk shares fell 7% Thursday when Hims & Hers introduced a $49 compounded Wegovy pill, compared to Novo’s $149 branded version
  • The Danish pharmaceutical company plans legal action, labeling the product “illegal mass compounding” that threatens patient safety
  • Eli Lilly stock also declined 7% as investors worried about increased market competition for weight loss medications
  • Hims & Hers argues its compounded version is legal as a “personalized” treatment with different formulation, despite semaglutide patents running through 2032
  • Novo’s stock has crashed 50% in 2025 and dropped another 15% in 2026 following guidance predicting sales declines between 5% and 13%

Novo Nordisk experienced a 7% stock decline Thursday following Hims & Hers’ announcement of a $49 compounded Wegovy weight loss pill. The Danish drugmaker swiftly responded with plans for legal action.


NVO Stock Card
Novo Nordisk A/S, NVO

The telehealth platform priced its alternative at $49 for the initial month and $99 monthly thereafter with a five-month plan. This represents a substantial discount from Novo’s $149 branded pill price.

Eli Lilly shares tumbled 7% alongside Novo on competitive concerns. Hims stock briefly rallied before retreating after legal threats emerged.

Novo condemned the launch as “illegal mass compounding that poses a risk to patient safety.” The company vowed to pursue legal and regulatory measures to protect its patents and the drug approval process.

“This is another example of Hims & Hers’ historic behaviour of duping the American public with knock-off GLP-1 products,” the company stated. The FDA previously cautioned Hims regarding deceptive GLP-1 product advertising.

Compounding Controversy

Semaglutide maintains U.S. patent protection through 2032. Hims contends its version qualifies as legal personalized compounding.

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The company states its compounded product employs a different formulation and delivery mechanism than FDA-approved oral semaglutide. Hims previously sold compounded injectable semaglutide and now offers pills.

Novo produces Wegovy pills using specialized SNAC technology to facilitate oral absorption. The effectiveness of Hims’ alternative formulation remains uncertain.

The two companies briefly collaborated in 2025 on discounted weight loss shots. Novo severed the partnership within two months, accusing Hims of “deceptive” marketing.

Novo Faces Headwinds

The dispute intensifies pressure on Novo Nordisk during a challenging stretch. Shares plummeted nearly 50% throughout 2025, marking the company’s worst annual performance.

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The stock has dropped an additional 15% in 2026 year-to-date. Investors question Novo’s capacity to maintain revenue growth against strengthening competition.

Novo forecasted last week that 2026 sales and profits would fall 5% to 13%. The company cited U.S. pricing challenges and patent expiration in markets including Canada and China.

CEO Mike Doustdar noted 170,000 patients started taking Wegovy pills since the January rollout. He framed the pessimistic outlook as temporary pain for future benefit.

“We are creating affordability for the patients, millions of patients that are right now in need of GLP-1 products, but simply could not afford it,” Doustdar explained.

Market Dynamics Shift

Eli Lilly plans to introduce its weight loss pill, orforglipron, in the first half of 2026 subject to FDA clearance. The company anticipates 25% sales growth this year, contrasting with Novo’s negative projection.

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Leerink analyst Michael Cherny noted Hims should explore similar opportunities for upcoming weight loss medications as the market expands.

Eli Lilly did not provide comment on the Hims development. Novo launched its Wegovy pill in the United States during early January 2026.

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Crypto World

Bitcoin Core Maintainer Gloria Zhao Quits After Six Years

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Bitcoin Core Maintainer Gloria Zhao Quits After Six Years

Bitcoin Core developer Gloria Zhao has stepped down as a maintainer and revoked her Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) signing key, ending about six years as one of the project’s gatekeepers. 

On Thursday, Zhao submitted her last pull request to the Bitcoin GitHub repository, removing her key from the trusted keys and withdrawing herself as one of the few maintainers able to update Bitcoin’s software.

Becoming the first known female maintainer in 2022, she focused on mempool policy and transaction relay: the rules and peer‑to‑peer logic that decide which transactions get into nodes’ waiting rooms and how quickly they propagate across the network. 

Gloria Zhao quite Bitcoin maintainer role. Source: GitHub

She helped design and implement package relay (BIP 331) and TRUC (Topologically Restricted Until Confirmation, BIP 431), along with upgrades to replace‑by‑fee (RBF) and broader P2P behavior, making fee bumping more reliable and reducing censorship.

Zhao’s work was funded through Brink, where she became the organization’s first fellow in 2021, with her fellowship backed by the Human Rights Foundation’s Bitcoin Development Fund and Jack Dorsey’s Spiral (formerly Square Crypto), placing her among a small cohort of publicly supported, full‑time open‑source Bitcoin protocol engineers.

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Beyond her technical contributions, Zhao mentored new contributors and co‑ran the Bitcoin Core PR Review Club, helping junior developers learn how to review complex changes and navigate Core’s conservative review culture. 

Related: Bitcoin Core v30 bug risks fund loss during legacy wallet upgrades

Split over OP_RETURN and Knots

Her resignation comes after more than a year of public disputes between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots, and the removal of OP_RETURN limits, a fight over whether Bitcoin’s default node software should make it harder to use block space for non‑monetary data.

In 2025, Zhao deleted her X account amid personal attacks during the OP_RETURN war, after a livestream in which a core developer questioned her credentials.

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While some Bitcoin Core critics celebrated Zhao’s departure, others took a more somber tone.

“They bullied her and made her life as miserable as possible until she rage quit, and quite frankly, I think what they did to her was tragic,” said pseudonymous Bitcoiner Pledditor.

Pledditor added that it set a “terrible precedent” and called it, “sad and pathetic.

“Congratulations you finally did it. You bullied one of Bitcoin Core’s most prolific and consistently excellent maintainers until she gave up,” said Chris Seedor, co-founder and CEO at Bitcoin wallet backup company Seedor.

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