PI spate: Novo Nordisk just obtained 29 injunctions (26 over patent, 3 over UCL) against semaglutide rivals in Germany, served at CPHI fair

Context:

• Novo Nordisk is known to enforce its intellectual property rights in its semaglutide crown jewel vigorously. Semaglutide treats type 2 diabetes and obesity, and is at the heart of Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster products Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy.
• The world’s leading pharmaceutical trade fair is CPHI (Convention on Pharmaceutical Ingredients). This year it took place in Frankfurt, Germany, from Tuesday to Thursday (October 28-30, 2025).

What’s new: Novo Nordisk has just obtained, served and enforced a whopping 29 preliminary injunctions (PIs) against (mostly Asian and to a lesser extent European) companies offering the active pharmaceutical ingredient semaglutide and/or pharmaceuticals containing semaglutide at the CPHI fair. The pan-European law firm of Hoyng Rokh Monegier, in collaboration with UK firm Bristows, won 26 ex parte PIs in the Dusseldorf Regional Court’s 4a Civil Chamber over EP1863839 (“Acylated glp-1 compounds”) and, in addition, 3 ex parte PIs from the Frankfurt Regional Court’s 6th Civil Chamber on unfair competition law (UCL) grounds as they offered finished products without proper marketing authorization.

Direct impact: As these PIs came down without prior notice to the defendants, they have the right to request a hearing and, potentially, thereafter appeal to the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court or, respectively, Frankfurt Higher Regional Court. The patent will expire in March 2026. Apparently the defendants were jumping the gun on market entry.

Wider ramifications:

• The award of 26 injunctions, even if over the same patent, is a remarkable logistical accomplishment by the Dusseldorf court and Novo Nordisk’s lawyers.
• Ex parte PIs over patents are particularly hard to obtain. This patent family, however, has faced invalidity challenges in different jurisdictions (as Darts-ip shows) and therefore enjoyed an enhanced presumption of validity.