Novo Nordisk shares rise after launching obesity pill Wegovy

shares Novo Nordisk The company’s stock rose more than 5% on Friday after early prescription data showed an encouraging start to the U.S. rollout of a new GLP-1 pill to treat obesity.

In a note on Friday, TD Cowen analysts called it a “strong start” for the first-ever weight-loss pill, but said “a single data point does not constitute a trend.” They cautioned that they needed to see more data to fully assess what early demand would look like for Wegovy pills, which officially launched on January 5 after receiving approval in late December.

However, the preliminary data represents a boost to the Danish drugmaker’s hopes of regaining more market share from its main rival. Eli Lillythis year in the booming field of obesity and diabetes drugs. Eli Lilly won a majority of the market share in early 2025 and is trailing Novo Nordisk in the pill space, as it prepares for the highly anticipated launch of its own oral obesity drug.

In a note Friday, Leerink Partners analyst David Reisinger said Wegovy pills were filled about 3,100 prescriptions in the first week of launch, citing IQVIA data for the week ending Jan. 9. He pointed out that the famous obesity injection, Zepbound, from Eli Lilly, was dispensed about 1,300 prescriptions in the first week of its commercial launch, and about 8,000 prescriptions in the second week. This injection received US approval in late 2023.

TD Cowen analysts cited slightly different data published by Symphony via Bloomberg.

Analysts said that about 4,290 prescriptions for Novo Nordisk pills were filled during the first full week of their launch, most of which were for the initial dose of the drug. They added that the data from their source or IQVIA likely does not include prescriptions through Novo Nordisk’s direct-to-consumer pharmacy or its telehealth partners.

That compares to roughly 1,900 prescriptions filled for Zepbound during its first full week on the market, analysts said.

Assuming Symphony’s data is accurate, the pill “is already outperforming its injectable counterparts at the same point in its launch,” Michael Nedeljkovic, an analyst at TD Cowen, wrote in the note. He added that a more direct comparison could be made between pills and injections based on data available early next week, although the numbers may not be more useful for another two or three quarters.

Nedeljkovic said he wanted to see the full picture on the direct-to-consumer channel, which holds “huge promise” for the cereal’s launch.

He added that demand could also change once Eli Lilly’s Orforglipron pills hit the market in the next few months.

While Novo Nordisk has a strong onset, it is a peptide drug that has nutritional requirements — no food or drink for 30 minutes after taking the pill with water — that may hinder its absorption. Eli Lilly pills are a small molecule drug and not a peptide, which means they do not have those restrictions.