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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

Lido DAO Mulls $20M LDO Buyback to Boost Token Price

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Lido DAO Mulls $20M LDO Buyback to Boost Token Price

Lido’s decentralized autonomous organization is considering a one-off $20 million buyback of its governance token to address so-called price dislocation, which is at “historically depressed levels” relative to Ether, according to the DAO. 

The proposal, submitted Friday, seeks permission to swap 10,000 Lido Staked Ether (stETH) tokens, currently worth $20 million from the DAO’s treasury for Lido DAO (LDO), arguing that LDO is undervalued.

“This is not a routine fluctuation. It represents one of the most significant dislocations between LDO’s market price and its underlying protocol fundamentals in the token’s history.”

A token buyback of this size could boost the price of the token, which has fallen roughly 96% from its all-time high. In November, a Lido DAO member pitched an automated buyback mechanism for LDO to improve the token’s price. However, that proposal hasn’t been implemented.

LDO’s change in price relative to ETH since 2024. Source: Lido DAO

Lido DAO pointed out that LDO is trading at a steep discount to Ether (ETH) at a ratio of 0.00016, roughly 63% below its two-year median.

This is despite the protocol holding the top spot of the Ethereum liquid staking market, with a 23.2% share of staked Ether, according to Dune Analytics data. The protocol’s dominance has even been flagged as a centralization risk to the network in previous years.

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Share of Ethereum network validators. Source: Dune Analytics

Related: Ethereum builders propose ‘economic zone’ to tackle L2 fragmentation 

LDO is currently trading at $0.30, down 95.9% from its $7.30 high set in August 2021, according to CoinGecko data. LDO’s $255 million market cap makes it the 141st largest token by value at the time of writing.

“That dislocation is not justified by a proportional deterioration in protocol performance,” Lido DAO said. 

Lido DAO proposes buying stETH in batches

Lido DAO proposed buying up to 10,000 stETH in smaller batches of 1,000 to buy LDO. 

Lido DAO said it would use limit orders or adopt a dollar-cost averaging strategy to avoid market volatility. 

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