China delivers a win for Novo Nordisk on semaglutide IP

Novo Nordisk has been handed a crucial legal win by China's Supreme Court, which has upheld the company's patent protection on GLP-1 agonist semaglutide used for diabetes and weight loss.

The court in Beijing backed the validity of Novo Nordisk's compound patent for semaglutide, which is the main ingredient in the company's obesity therapy Wegovy and diabetes treatments Ozempic and Rybelsus, used by tens of millions of people worldwide.

The importance of the ruling can't be overstated, given that China is the second-largest pharma market worldwide, after the US, and semaglutide products collectively contributed almost three-quarters of the Danish group's sales in the first nine months of 2025.

It's a fillip for new Novo Nordisk chief executive Mike Doustdar, who took the helm last year with a clear remit to defend the GLP-1-based weight loss and diabetes business from rivals like Eli Lilly, as well as knock-off versions of semaglutide that sidestep the company's intellectual property (IP).

"This outcome is very positive for semaglutide and demonstrates firm government support for protecting medical innovation," said Doustdar.

"This decision also strengthens confidence for foreign companies' sustainable development in China and will motivate further development and introduction of innovative medicines for the benefit of patients," he added.

The ruling is particularly important this year, as Novo Nordisk starts extending its semaglutide franchise with the imminent launch of anew oral formulation, the Wegovy pill, that is expected to drive even further usage of GLP-1 drugs among people who – in most cases – pay for the drug out of their own pockets.

Oral Wegovy was approved in the US at the end of 2025 and is also filed in Europe, with a decision there due in the latter half of this year. It is a key product for Doustdar as he tries to turn around a business that was briefly the biggest company in Europe in 2024, fuelled by rapid growth in GLP-1 drugs, before a rapid fall in its value over the course of 2025.

Meanwhile, ex-US sales of semaglutide products could become increasingly important as the prices of GLP-1 drugs come under pressure in the US.

Novo Nordisk has previously said that the compound patent expiry of the semaglutide molecule in certain countries is expected to have an estimated negative low-single-digit impact on global sales growth in 2026, and it suggested that the Chinese ruling does not alter that prediction.