Written by: Carl Graziadei
On September 6, 2024, Novo Nordisk filed suit against LifeRxMd, alleging infringement on the company’s Ozempic and Wegovy trademarks. In addition, Novo Nordisk claims that LifeRxMd engaged in false advertising by holding out their medications as generic versions of Ozempic and Wegovy.
The Creation of Ozempic
In 2017, Novo Nordisk received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for Ozempic, a medication created specifically to treat patients with type 2 diabetes. However, the medication quickly gained popularity after several patients reported that the drug helped them lose weight. The increased demand for a “magic” weight loss pill led Novo Nordisk to develop Wegovy–a drug targeted specifically toward weight loss. Wegovy uses the same active ingredient as Ozempic–the GL-1 receptor agonist known as semaglutide–which increases the amount of insulin released into the body in response to food. Wegovy received FDA approval in 2021. Novo Nordisk subsequently acquired trademarks for both of the drugs.
LifeRxMd was founded in July of 2021. They market personalized weight loss medication on their website. Their customers meet with one of their physicians, who then determines how strong of a dosage they should take to meet their weight loss goals. However, their medications consist of the same active ingredient that’s found in Ozempic and Wegovy. LifeRxMd has a disclaimer on their website informing their visitors that their medication is not associated with any of Novo Nordisk’s medications.
LifeRxMd’s medicine is known in the pharmaceutical industry as a “compounded drug.” A compounded drug is defined by the FDA as “a practice in which a licensed pharmacist [or] a licensed physician…combines, mixes, or alters ingredients of a drug to create a medication tailored to the needs of an individual patient.” Compounded drugs are not approved by the FDA. They are, however, governed by Section 503(A) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The FD&C Act ensures that companies meet certain health and safety standards before they are allowed to market their products.
Basis of Novo Nordisk’s Trademark Violation Claim
Novo Nordisk’s complaint alleges that LifeRxMd is in violation of § 1125 of the Lanham Act. To be successful on this claim, the court will have to find that LifeRxMd misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin of its product.
Novo Nordisk points to several instances in which LifeRxMd used Ozempic and Wegovy to describe or advertise their product. For example, LifeRxMd’s website stated that their active ingredient could be found in the “brand name” drug Wegovy. Novo Nordisk believes that this misrepresents their product as a generic version of Wegovy. On another occasion, LifeRxMd used an Ozempic hashtag in one of their social media marketing posts.
LifeRxMd is not a Unique Defendant
This is not the first time Novo Nordisk has alleged infringement of their trademarks and false advertising. In fact, in 2023 Novo Nordisk filed 13 lawsuits against companies marketing compounded semaglutide drugs. In July of 2024, Novo Nordisk filed three more complaints, accusing defendants of the same violations.
The Court has been fairly consistent in each of these cases. They granted Novo Nordisk with a preliminary injunction, which stopped the defendants temporarily from using Ozempic and Wegovy to promote their compounded Semagulitude in their marketing materials. Their goal in granting these injunctions is to prevent consumers from being misled that these compounded semaglutide drugs went through the same rigorous FDA testing that Ozempic and Wegovy had to go through to get their approval. This is consistent with the goals of Trademark and False advertising law, which seeks to protect consumers from deception and confusion in the marketplace to ensure that products are accurately represented.
Novo Nordisk has reached settlement agreements with most of the accused parties. The settlement agreements often include the same terms of the preliminary injunctions. None of these cases have reached trial. In fact, there are no cases on point that involve a pharmaceutical company producing compounded drugs that use trademarked non-compounded drugs to market their product.
If this lawsuit reaches trial, it has the potential to provide guidance to compounded drug companies as to what they can include in their advertisements. The preliminary injunctions serve as a strong indicator that consumer safety will be paramount in any judgment at trial. Based on the settlement agreements that Novo Nordisk has reached in the past, it seems that LifeRxMd will not be able to settle without accepting the terms of some sort of injunction from using Ozempic and Wegovy in their marketing.
Sources:
15 U.S.C. § 1125.
Compounding Laws and Policies, U.S. Food & Drug Administration (Sep. 10, 2020).
Carla Baranukas, Novo Nordisk Sues Over Ads For Diabetes, Weight Loss Drugs, Law360 (Sep. 9, 2024).
Armin Ghiam & Maria Montenegro-Bernardo, A Review of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy Trademark Enforcement Campaign, IP Watchdog (Jul. 23, 2024).