By Harshita Mary Varghese and Patrick Wingrove
Jan 28 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk spent nearly $500 million on U.S. advertising for its GLP-1 drugs Wegovy and Ozempic in the first nine months of 2025, more than double what Eli Lilly shelled out for its rival medicines, as the Danish drugmaker fought for market share, data seen by Reuters shows.
The data from advertising tracking firm MediaRadar, which has not been previously reported, shows Novo spent an estimated $316 million advertising its weight-loss
drug Wegovy in the U.S. and $169 million on diabetes medication Ozempic from January through September last year. That's up 54% and 44%, respectively from the same period in 2024.
Indianapolis-based market leader Eli Lilly spent about $131 million advertising obesity treatment Zepbound in the same period versus $2 million in 2024. It spent $83 million promoting diabetes medicine Mounjaro.
Combined, Novo spent about $487 million and Lilly an estimated $214 million on U.S. ads for these drugs. The companies declined to comment on their advertising budgets.
It is not known how much Novo plans to spend on advertising its new pill version of Wegovy.
David Moore, Novo's executive vice president of U.S. operations, said the company plans to advertise the pill immediately and push sales through its cash-pay, direct-to-consumer channels.
Insurance coverage in the U.S. is uneven for these drugs, prompting many people to pay out‑of‑pocket for them.
ADVERTISING BLITZ REFLECTS AMPLE SUPPLY
The U.S. is unusual in allowing direct‑to‑consumer advertising of prescription medicines, a system that has been criticized as driving up already high U.S. medical costs.
AbbVie, for example, spent more than $850 million in advertising for arthritis drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq in the first nine months of 2025. AbbVie declined to comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have tried to discourage drugmaker advertising with new disclosure rules.
Last year's advertising blitz reflects a shift in availability for the medicines that were in shortage for much of 2024, with the companies unable to meet unprecedented demand.
During the shortage, Novo halted its ads and then ramped them up in 2025 as supply increased, Moore said.
Also, data released by Lilly in late 2024 showed patients taking Zepbound lost 47% more weight than those who were given Wegovy in a large, head-to-head trial.
"When it comes to weight loss, Lilly has that edge with Zepbound, which is why, likely, Novo is looking to offset that with higher advertising investments," Rajiv Leventhal, senior analyst for digital health at market research firm Emarketer.
A Lilly spokesperson said the company is committed to providing information across multiple channels to ensure consumers receive accurate, timely information about its drugs.
U.S. prescriptions for Zepbound overtook Wegovy last year, giving the U.S. drugmaker about 60% of the obesity drug market for 2025, according to IQVIA data shared by a Wall Street analyst. IQVIA did not respond to a request for comment.
Novo and Lilly have also had to deal with telehealth companies selling compounded copies of their drugs. They were able to freely sell their copies while the branded versions were in short supply, but have since turned to selling personalized doses that differ from what the pharmaceutical companies offer in dose size and regimen.
Rae McMahan, senior vice president of payer solutions at Prescryptive, which helps patients find the lowest prices for drugs at pharmacies, said advertising has limits in guiding treatment decisions for the GLP-1 drugs.
"It's still a conversation that needs to be between the patient and their physician," McMahan said.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
