Novo Nordisk

By Elaine Chen and Ed Silverman

Feb. 9, 2026

Elaine Chen

[email protected]

Elaine Chen covers biotech, co-writes The Readout newsletter, and co-hosts STAT’s weekly biotech podcast, The Readout Loud. You can reach Elaine on Signal at elaineywchen.70.

Ed Silverman

[email protected]

Ed Silverman, a senior writer and Pharmalot columnist at STAT, has been covering the pharmaceutical industry for nearly three decades. He is also the author of the morning Pharmalittle newsletter and the afternoon Pharmalot newsletter.

Telehealth companies and compounding pharmacies that are continuing to make copycat versions of Novo Nordisk’s highly popular obesity drug Wegovy “should be very, very much on notice,” the company’s chief counsel says. 

The comments by Novo’s John Kuckelman, made in an interview with STAT on Monday, came shortly after the company filed a lawsuit against Hims & Hers. Novo alleges the telehealth company is infringing on its patent for semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and the sister diabetes drug, Ozempic.

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Over the past few years, compounding pharmacies raced to make copycat GLP-1s when the brand-name drugs were in shortage, as they’re legally allowed to do so. But when the drugs were no longer in shortage last year, companies like Hims continued to market compounded products, claiming they were making “personalized” versions.

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  1. Elaine Chen

    National Biotech Reporter

    Elaine Chen covers biotech, co-writes The Readout newsletter, and co-hosts STAT’s weekly biotech podcast, The Readout Loud. You can reach Elaine on Signal at elaineywchen.70.

  2. Ed Silverman

    Pharmalot Columnist, Senior Writer

    Ed Silverman, a senior writer and Pharmalot columnist at STAT, has been covering the pharmaceutical industry for nearly three decades. He is also the author of the morning Pharmalittle newsletter and the afternoon Pharmalot newsletter.