Court denies Novo bid to halt Lilly's weight-loss ads

A federal judge in New Jersey declined Novo Nordisk's request for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped Eli Lilly from running advertising for its weight-loss drugs. The judge found the evidence too thin to show the campaigns had threatened sales or caused lasting reputational harm, describing the market effect as negligible between April and July. Novo's prescriptions held steady in that window, and the judge said money damages could remedy any harm. The ruling is preliminary and does not decide the underlying false-advertising claims, so the lawsuit continues. The decision keeps competing comparative claims from both companies in the market while the case proceeds.

1. Judge Zahid Quraishi of the U.S. District Court in New Jersey denied Novo's preliminary injunction request on Monday, as reported October 27, 2026.
2. Novo argued that Lilly's advertisements for Zepbound and Mounjaro were false and misleading; Novo filed the suit in July 2026.
3. The judge found the campaigns produced no more than a negligible market effect between April and July, and Novo's prescriptions remained stable.
4. The judge said monetary damages could address any nontrivial harm Novo might suffer without an injunction.
5. The ruling was made on a very preliminary record and does not resolve the lawsuit's ultimate merits.
6. Source reporting: Benzinga, citing a Reuters report.