In a courtroom turnabout, Danish pharmaceutical powerhouse Novo Nordisk has found itself on the losing side of a lawsuit it filed to protect the monopoly of its blockbuster drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic. Now, a Florida pharmacy it targeted is demanding the company cough up nearly half a million dollars in legal fees.
Brooksville Pharmaceuticals, the Florida-based pharmacy that fought off Novo’s claims, is asking for over $439,000 in legal expenses after a federal judge threw out Novo’s suit. The ruling marks a significant stumble for the drugmaker, which has been waging a nationwide legal campaign to shut down compounding pharmacies selling semaglutide—the active ingredient in its weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
The judge, William Jung of the U.S. District Court in Tampa, ruled that the case had no legs—especially after the FDA ended its drug shortage designation for both Wegovy and Ozempic, nullifying the argument that compounding pharmacies were overstepping regulatory lines. Compounded medications, which are custom-mixed by pharmacies to meet patient-specific needs, are legally permissible during drug shortages. And for a time, both Novo drugs were on the FDA’s shortage list.
But with that shortage now over, the judge said Novo’s claims were moot. More damaging, he noted that Novo never identified a single patient harmed by Brooksville’s compounded semaglutide. The pharmacy’s legal team underscored this point in their fee petition, arguing the lawsuit was meritless from the start and continued long after that was obvious.
Despite the court’s dismissal, Novo stuck to its stance in a statement, insisting compounders are still breaking the law by producing semaglutide versions and putting patient safety at risk. The company didn’t respond to further questions.
This is hardly an isolated incident. Novo has launched a barrage of nearly 120 lawsuits in 34 states, trying to block compounding pharmacies, online sellers, and even med spas from offering semaglutide alternatives. But in Florida alone, the courts haven’t been kind. This latest defeat is at least the fourth time Novo’s legal strategy has collapsed in that district.
Another compounding defendant, Wells Pharmacy Network, had also requested attorney fees exceeding $250,000 after winning its case, though that request was shelved while an appeal played out.
Behind all this courtroom action is a gold mine: Analysts estimate the obesity drug market could balloon to $150 billion in less than a decade. And with Eli Lilly also in the mix, Big Pharma is clearly prepared to fight tooth and nail to protect its turf—even if some of those punches don’t land.
Meanwhile, across the legal battlefield, big-money battles rage on—from Google keeping elite lawyers in a digital ad monopoly case to Clear Channel chasing $3.1 million after a billboard war in New York. But for Novo Nordisk, the billable hours are starting to stack up—and not in their favor.
