This tag follows court cases that shape the peptide and biologic drug business.
The largest is MDL 3094 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where Judge Karen S. Marston oversees consolidated gastrointestinal-injury claims, including gastroparesis, against Novo Nordisk (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) and Eli Lilly (Trulicity, Mounjaro). The court held a Rule 702 evidentiary hearing on cross-cutting expert issues from September 14 to 18, 2026. Vision-loss claims tied to non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) are consolidated separately in MDL 3163 in the same court.
Contract disputes land here too. On September 24, 2026, a federal jury in Northern California found that Lilly breached the implied covenant of good faith in its rezpegaldesleukin license with Nektar Therapeutics and awarded Nektar $90 million plus interest, subject to post-trial proceedings.
Rivals sue each other too. Novo Nordisk's July 2026 false-advertising suit over Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro ads lost its first round on October 26, when a New Jersey judge refused a preliminary injunction without ruling on whether the ads mislead.
See #glp-1, #eli-lilly, and #novo-nordisk for adjacent threads.
U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi in Trenton, New Jersey refused on October 26, 2026 to issue a preliminary injunction against Eli Lilly's ads for Zepbound and Mounjaro, which Novo Nordisk sued over in July for comparing higher doses of Lilly's drugs with lower doses of Wegovy and Ozempic, Reuters reported. After a two-day hearing in late August, the judge found Novo had not shown the ads hurt its sales, goodwill, or clinical reputation, noting its prescriptions stayed stable from April to July and that money damages could cover any harm. He did not decide whether the ads are false or misleading; Novo said the litigation continues, and Lilly, which denies wrongdoing, said it was pleased.
BioMarin disclosed in a September 30, 2026 SEC filing that it signed a final settlement and license agreement with Ascendis Pharma on September 24, effective retroactively to August 28, turning the companies' August 31 term sheet into a definitive deal over Yuviwel (navepegritide), Ascendis's once-weekly prodrug of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP). The license covers navepegritide products for all indications, including achondroplasia, for which the FDA approved Yuviwel in children 2 and older in February 2026, and hypochondroplasia. Ascendis will pay royalties of 20% of U.S. net sales and 18% in the European Union, Brazil, and South Korea from first commercial sale until May 2030, and the companies will dismiss all pending patent litigation with prejudice.
A federal jury in the Northern District of California found on Thursday, September 24, 2026 that Eli Lilly breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in its license agreement with Nektar Therapeutics for rezpegaldesleukin (rezpeg), an autoimmune disease drug, and awarded Nektar $90 million in damages plus interest to be set by the court. Nektar filed the suit in August 2023, and the trial began on September 8. The verdict remains subject to post-trial proceedings, and any judgment may be appealed.
The GLP-1 mass tort litigation (MDL 3094) before Judge Karen Marston in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania now includes 3,363 cases alleging gastroparesis and other injuries. Expert discovery closed in late March, with Daubert motions due April 28 and summary judgment motions due April 30. A Science Day on vision loss claims is set for June 2.
Over 3,546 lawsuits are now consolidated in two federal MDLs — one for gastroparesis and one for NAION vision loss. On March 3, a federal judge appointed lead counsel for the NAION MDL. Studies show semaglutide users face a fourfold increase in NAION risk, with vision loss claims now generating more legal attention than earlier gastroparesis cases.