Novo Nordisk, Lilly deny partnership with Mangoceuticals on obesity drugs

By Christy Santhosh (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly denied weight-loss drug partnership with Mangoceuticals on Thursday, hours after the telehealth provider disclosed it had arrangements with the two drugmakers. Shares of Mangoceuticals had surged nearly 30% in premarket trading after a press statement from earlier on Thursday said it had partnered with Novo and Lilly to offer blockbuster weight-loss drugs to self-paying patients. Shares closed at $1.19 following the companies' response, 32.4% below their $1.76 closing price on Wednesday. Mangoceuticals later clarified in a separate statement that while it "has no direct contractual relationship with Eli Lilly or Novo Nordisk," it is now directly offering their GLP-1 weight-loss drugs to customers through its MangoRx Direct and Peaches RX Direct platforms. Spokespersons for both Lilly and Novo said in emails to Reuters that they had no special arrangements with the company. Last year, Lilly had filed a lawsuit against Mangoceuticals for selling products claiming to contain tirzepatide, the main ingredient in its weight-loss drug Zepbound. After this, the telehealth company said it was evaluating strategic alternatives. On Thursday morning, Mangoceuticals said in a statement to Reuters the lawsuit was settled earlier this year for a nominal amount. In response, a Lilly spokesperson said the company "sued Mangoceuticals last year, and Mango agreed to the court-ordered injunction as part of a settlement." U.S. regulations allow compounding pharmacies to copy brand-name medicines that are in short supply. When Lilly's Zepbound and Novo's Wegovy were in shortage in the U.S. for much of last year, several telehealth companies had sold cheaper copies of these treatments. Lilly was the first to sell Zepbound directly to U.S. consumers via its LillyDirect platform, followed by Novo's NovoCare for Wegovy. The U.S. government's TrumpRx.gov site, launching in early 2026, will also direct consumers to these drugs at reduced prices under a new deal. Both drugmakers have partnered with multiple telehealth platforms to sell their weight-loss drugs. (Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan; Editing by Leroy Leo, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Shilpi Majumdar and Alan Barona)

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