On December 31, 2025, China's Supreme People's Court issued a favorable ruling concerning the intellectual property rights related to the semaglutide compound patent.

Novo Nordisk (NVO.US) expressed deep satisfaction with the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Beijing Intellectual Property Court's ruling that maintained the validity of the semaglutide compound patent.

Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Novo Nordisk, stated: "This outcome is highly significant for semaglutide and fully demonstrates the Chinese government's firm support for protecting pharmaceutical innovation. This decision not only boosts the confidence of foreign-invested enterprises to continue their development in China but will also further drive the research, development, and introduction of innovative drugs, ultimately benefiting patients."

Semaglutide is a novel long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog developed by Novo Nordisk. It is the primary active ingredient in Wegovy® (marketed in China as Novo Ying®) for the treatment of overweight and obesity, as well as in Ozempic® (marketed in China as Novo Tai®) and Rybelsus® (marketed in China as Novo Xin®) for the treatment of adult type 2 diabetes.

Since its launch, semaglutide has gained widespread clinical recognition and has accumulated approximately 38 million patient-years of usage experience.

Novo Nordisk had previously indicated that the expiration of the semaglutide compound patent in certain markets of its International Operations region is expected to have a low single-digit negative impact on the company's global sales growth in 2026, and this ruling does not alter that expectation.