Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar defended the drugmaker's decision to sue rival Eli Lilly over its weight-loss drug advertising.
"I am a big fan of competition. I think competition has to be fierce, but I also think competition has to be fair," Doustdar said on CNBC's "Mad Money." "I believe that patients deserve to know the full truth together with their physicians before they make a choice of what product to take."
Last month, Novo Nordisk filed a lawsuit, alleging that Lilly's advertising for its blockbuster injectable GLP-1 drugs misleads consumers about their efficacy relative to Novo's rival treatments.
Doustdar argued Lilly's comparisons do not give consumers the full picture because they rely on an older, lower-dose version of Novo's Wegovy rather than the company's newer high-dose 7.2 mg offering.
When asked for comment, an Eli Lilly spokesperson said, "We're glad to see Novo Nordisk's own CEO confirm what we've said all along: Lilly's advertising is truthful."
The legal fight comes as competition between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly intensifies across the booming GLP-1 market.
