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Hims & Hers ditches copycat drugs in Novo truce
Novo Nordisk has dropped its patent infringement lawsuit against Hims & Hers Health after the pair struck an agreement allowing Hims to distribute branded Ozempic and Wegovy - including the new oral Wegovy pill - through its platform at the same price as other telehealth providers. "We have decided to drop the current court proceedings," Novo CEO Mike Doustdar told CNBC, adding that the company reserves the right to refile "if needed". Shares of Hims & Hers jumped more than 36% in Monday morning trading, though they remain well off their 52-week high of around $70. United States-listed shares of Novo Nordisk rose 1.8%.How the loophole opened - and closedThe dispute has its roots in 2022, when the FDA placed semaglutide on its official drug shortage list. That listing authorised compounding pharmacies to obtain the active ingredient and produce their own versions to meet patient demand. Hims & Hers began selling compounded injectable semaglutide in May 2024 under that provision. On 9 February last year, the company ran a Super Bowl commercial called "Sick of the System", which reached an estimated 127 million viewers and promoted its compounded formulation as a lower-cost alternative to branded GLP-1 drugs. Then on 2
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Gilead announces US$7.8bn acquisition of Arcellx
Gilead announced it will acquire cancer therapy developer Arcellx in a deal worth US$7.8 billion (A$11.03 billion). This builds upon a preexisting collaboration between the companies to develop and commercialise Arcellx’s lead pipeline candidate, anitocabtagene autoleucel (anito-cel), an investigational BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy for patients with multiple myeloma. Anito-cel has shown deep and durable response with a predictable and manageable safety profile in clinical studies. “This agreement reflects our conviction in the potential of anito-cel and our intention to move with speed so we can make the most of that potential for patients with multiple myeloma,” Gilead Sciences chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day said. "Beyond the potential launch this year, anito-cel could become a foundational treatment for multiple myeloma over time, including earlier lines of therapy.” Under O’Day, Gilead has pursued several big deals and partnerships, including its $21 billion acquisition of Immunomedics in 2020. Gilead will pay $115 per share in cash and will also pay Arcellex shareholders $5 per share, contingent upon achieving cumulative anito-cel global net sales of at least $6 ‌billion from launch through the end of 202
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Novo Nordisk obesity drug falls short of rival Eli Lilly
Novo Nordisk's stock has fallen by over 15% after its new obesity drug fell short of rival Eli Lilly. Those treated with a dose of Novo Nordisk’s CagriSema in a trial achieved 20.2% weight loss after 84 weeks, compared to 23.6% for Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide. This meant that Novo Nordisk did not meet the primary endpoint of showing non-inferiority to tirzepatide, causing its stocks to plummet over 15% while Eli Lilly’s grew almost 5%. This follows a string of disappointing announcements for Novo Nordisk. The company’s shares have fallen to their lowest level since June 2021. Stock for the Copenhagen company has fallen 58.07% over the past 12 months. Despite the disappointing trial results, Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar remained upbeat about CagriSema’s potential. “We strongly believe that CagriSema has, right now, the best weight efficacy than any product currently in the market,” he said. Novo Nordisk (CPH: NOVO-B) stock tanked 16.48% to 251.40 Danish kroner on Monday. Its market cap is 1.34 trillion Danish kroner. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) stock rose 4.9% to US$1,058.56. Its market cap is US$998.60 billion.
Health
Cochlear lowers guidance amid Nucleus Nexa delays
Medical device company Cochlear has projected that full-year profits will be at the low end of its guidance range due to delays transitioning customers to its Nucleus Nexa hearing implant system, with shares falling by 16%. Cochlear’s revenue for the last half rose 1% year-over-year to A$1.18 billion. Underlying net profit fell 9% to $194.8 million, and statutory net profit dropped 21% to $161.5 million. “Cochlear reached a major milestone in June 2025, launching the Cochlear Nucleus Nexa System, the world’s first and only smart cochlear implant system with upgradeable firmware,” the company wrote. “We expect the business to deliver a strong second half driven by the broad availability of the Nexa System, strong growth in Services and improved momentum for Acoustics. Underlying net profit is expected to be at the lower end of the $435-460 million guidance range provided in August 2025, reflecting the longer than anticipated contracting process for the Nexa Implant System in the first half.” The company’s underlying net profit margin decreased from 18% to 17% last half. Operating expenses rose 1% to $602.2 million, driven by a 9% increase in research and development costs. Sales of its cochlear implants increased 6%
Health
Oncology driving steady upwards tick for AstraZeneca
Fresh financial results from AstraZeneca show that a continued strong demand for cancer treatment drugs has driven steady results for the company. The latest earnings report, released earlier this week, saw profit growth for 2026 expected to remain steady, if oncology demand stays high. AstraZeneca, the biggest drug maker in Britain, has lofty goals to achieve by 2030, including US$80 billion in annual sales "We have a lot of reason to believe we are very much on track to deliver our 2030 ambition," said CEO Pascal Soriot, who has served in the role since 2012. The U.S and Chinese markets are a key target for AstraZeneca, with a US$50 billion manufacturing deal struck with the States last year and an announcement just last month that the company plans to invest $15 billion into China, its second biggest market, up to 2030. This week's earnings report saw that oncology products made up 44% of revenue, and the U.S market was responsible for 43% of revenue when broken down by region.

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Pro Medicus half year profit soars to record
Pro Medicus has announced a 231% increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) to $171.2 million for the six months to 31 December 2025. This included unrealised pre-tax gains of $149.1 million from the company’s investment in 4D Medical. Excluding these gains, underlying NPAT increased 29.7% to $67.3 million. The healthcare infomatics company said revenue rose 28.4% to $124.8 million compared with the previous corresponding period. Directors declared a fully franked interim dividend of 32 cents per share, up from 25 cents in the prior corresponding period, to be paid on 20 March to shareholders on record on 27 February. Chief Executive Officer Sam Hupert said he was pleased with the record result. “Our profits continue to grow strongly even though our biggest implementation during the period in Trinity Cohort 1 went live towards the end of October so had limited impact on the half,” he said in an ASX announcement. “Importantly, our margins also grew, and we made more sales in this half than we used to make in a full year just two years ago.” He said most contracts were for the full stack of Visage products – Viewer, Workflow and Archive and two also included our cardiology offering making them full stack +1, a t
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Hims & Hers pulls copycat pill on threats of legal action
Pharmaceutical company Him & Hers announced it will pull its copycat Wegovy weight-loss pill from the market following threats of legal action. “Since launching the compounded semaglutide pill on our platform, we’ve had constructive conversations with stakeholders across the industry,” Hims & Hers posted to X. “As a result, we have decided to stop offering access to this treatment.” This comes after Novo Nordisk threatened legal action against Hims & Hers for launching a cheaper version of Wegovy. The Hims & Hers version was set to launch at US$49 for the first month, as part of an introductory offer, followed by $99 per month. This would be far cheaper than Novo Nordisk’s $149 pill. Novo Nordisk also alleged that the Hims & Hers products possessed “a significant risk to patient safety”. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also weighed in, announcing plans to take legal action against Hums & Hers for the pill, including restricting its access to ingredients and referring the company to the Department of Justice. In response, Hims on Saturday said it “has always operated with a deep commitment to the safety and best interests of consumers and in compliance with applicable law.” This comes as the company
Health
Novo Nordisk takes legal action on Hims & Hers
Novo Nordisk will take legal actions against Hims & Hers after it announced it will launch a cheaper version of the weight loss drug Wegovy. Him & Hers announcement came just weeks after Novo Nordisk launched its highly anticipated reformulation of the blockbuster medications. The product from Hims & Hers will launch at US$49 for the first month, as part of an introductory offer, followed by $99 per month. This would be far cheaper than Novo Nordisk’s $149 pill. In a media release, Novo Nordisk noted that Hims & Hers' actions follow a pattern where the company capitalises on the booming popularity of GLP-1 drugs, like Wegovy. “The action by Hims & Hers is illegal mass compounding that poses a significant risk to patient safety,” Novo Nordisk said in a statement. “Novo Nordisk will take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, our intellectual property and the integrity of the US gold-standard drug approval framework. “This is another example of Hims & Hers' historic behaviour of duping the American public with knock-off GLP-1 products, and the FDA has previously warned them about their deceptive advertising of GLP-1 knock-offs.” Novo Nordisk released its product in early January, and CEO Mike Doustd
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Eli Lilly's revenue and income soars past expecations
Eli Lilly soared past analysts' expectations in its latest earnings reports on the back of its successful weight loss and diabetes drugs. The company’s fourth-quarter revenue skyrocketed 43% yer-over-year to US$19.29 billion and surpassed expectations of $17.94 billion. U.S. revenue alone climbed to $12.9 billion, which Eli Lilly said was driven by a 50% increase in volume for its products, including Mounjaro and Zepbound. This was partially offset by a 7% decrease due to the lower realised prices. This comes after the company made a deal with the U.S. government to expand access to its obesity medicines and reduce patient costs, which is expected to eventually increase the number of prescriptions but hurt sales. However, the deal will give Eli Lilly a three-year exemption from tariffs. “We expanded our manufacturing capacity, and through our U.S. government agreement, opened new access to obesity medicines,” Eli Lilly chair and CEO David Ricks said. Revenue outside the U.S. grew 43% to $6.4 billion, thanks to a 38% increase in volume and 4% favourable impact on foreign exchange rates. International volume increase was driven primarily by Mounjaro. “We reached millions more patients—launching Inluriyo, expa