The news: Novo Nordisk beat first-quarter expectations, with revenues of $15.2 billion, up 32% year over year, driven by a strong Wegovy pill launch and growth in Wegovy injectable sales.

• Wegovy pill generated 1.3 million prescriptions and $355 million in revenues in Q1, nearly double analysts’ $182 million projection.
• At the same time, Wegovy injectable sales reached $2.9 billion in the quarter, up 12% YoY.

Why it matters: Novo and Eli Lilly both delivered standout first quarter results, shifting their rivalry from weight loss injections to pills.

• Lilly reported $4.2 billion in Zepbound sales, up 80% YoY. It also highlighted early momentum for April-launched Foundayo (sales were not included in Q1 results), with 20,000 patients treated in its first weeks.
• Meanwhile, Novo said the Wegovy pill reached 2 million prescriptions as of April 17, with more than 200,000 that week alone. It says Wegovy injectables and pills together now hold a 65% share of new-to-GLP-1 prescriptions.

Both companies have spent heavily on GLP-1 injectable advertising, signaling that follow-on marketing of the pills is forthcoming. The GLP-1 market for weight loss is increasingly driven by consumer demand, requiring hefty direct-to-consumer (D2C) spending to build awareness and prompt patients to seek prescriptions from doctors or telehealth providers. In 2025, Wegovy spent $501 million on national TV ads, while Zepbound spent $284 million, per iSpot.tv data provided to EMARKETER. Ozempic spent $200 million and Mounjaro $156 million, bringing total GLP-1 drug ad spending last year to more than $1.1 billion—nearly one-fifth of all pharma linear TV spending of almost $6 billion.

Implications for pharma marketers: As obesity drugs move deeper into primary care, growth will depend less on clinical results and more on marketing and advertising. That’s in the early stages—Novo launched its Wegovy pill campaign in February with a Super Bowl ad, and Lillly’s mainstream Foundayo campaign won’t begin until Q3. Success for Novo, Lily, and their rivals now hinges on physician education and targeting, personalized consumer messaging, and CPG-style brand building.

For other pharma marketers, the growing commercialization push behind obesity drugs could increase competition for consumer and physician attention. As obesity drugs raise budgets across traditional and digital channels, others may be forced to elevate their own spending, targeting, and engagement strategies to compete in a healthcare market crowded with large-scale obesity campaigns.

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