By George Glover

Novo Nordisk stock was clawing back some of its recent losses on Friday after the Food and Drug Association signaled it may crack down on a cheaper copycat of the Danish drugmaker's Wegovy pills.

Novo's American depositary receipts rallied 8% to $46.80 ahead of the opening bell. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were 0.5% higher, as stocks rebounded following a brutal tech selloff.

The rally came after the FDA's commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said in a post on X that the agency would "take swift action against companies mass-marketing illegal copycat drugs, claiming they are similar to FDA-approved products."

Makary didn't refer to Novo or Wegovy by name, but he appeared to be referring to a knockoff weight-loss pill that Hims & Hers Health launched on Thursday. The new pill, which contains the same active ingredient as Wegovy, sells on an introductory plan for $49 a month. Standard-dose Wegovy pills sell for $149 a month.

The launch sparked a dispute between Novo and Hims.

"The action by Hims & Hers is illegal mass compounding that poses a significant risk to patient safety," Novo said in a statement on Thursday.

"This is not the first time (nor will it be the last time) a big pharma company has suggested taking an accessible, customer-first approach to healthcare is dangerous, illegal, or bad for the marketplace," Hims said in a statement.

Novo and Hims didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Barron's about Makary's statement.

Hims stock fell 4.9% to $22.33 ahead of Friday's opening bell. Shares in Eli Lilly, which makes the weight-loss drug Zepbound, climbed 4.4% to $1,066.

Novo investors needed some good news. The stock tanked 15% on Wednesday after the company -- which also makes the popular weight-loss and diabetes drug Ozempic -- issued a dismal outlook for the current year, saying it expects sales to fall.

Shares plunged another 8.2% on Thursday after Hims said it would introduce the Wegovy copycat.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2026 07:04 ET (12:04 GMT)

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