Arizona-based Strive Compounding Pharmacy has filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, alleging that the two firms are working together to suppress competition in the market for weight-loss drugs. The suit was filed with the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
According to Strive, Lilly and Novo have entered into agreements with telehealth companies that prevent these providers from working with compounding pharmacies. Strive claims this approach “cut[s] off an essential channel between patients with prescriptions for personalized medicines and the pharmacies that could fill those prescriptions.”
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have not publicly responded to the lawsuit. However, at this week’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Novo CEO Mike Doustdar said about 1.5 million U.S. patients are using compounded versions of his company’s GLP-1 drugs and accused compounders of targeting price-sensitive consumers.
Strive’s complaint also accuses Lilly of attempting to disrupt its business relationships with technology platforms and payment processors “in an effort to censor all statements about compounded medicines’ potential benefits.” The pharmacy argues these actions violate U.S. antitrust laws: “It is meant to preserve their supracompetitive prices by forestalling all competition, no matter how small.”
The lawsuit challenges claims by the drugmakers regarding innovation incentives in the GLP-1 market: “These pharma companies... would have the world believe that without the potential of reaping hundreds of billions of dollars in profits for the sale of GLP1 drugs, incentives to innovate and compete would be lost, and that exclusivity in the market for GLP-1 medicines serves the greater good.” The suit continues: “These assertions are false.”
Strive is asking the court to halt what it calls antitrust practices by Lilly and Novo, restore competitive conditions in the market, and provide additional relief as deemed appropriate.
This legal action comes amid ongoing disputes over compounded versions of GLP-1 therapies—remixed or unapproved alternatives produced by compounders rather than original manufacturers. In December 2024, after formally ending a shortage declaration on Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs, the FDA gave compounders 60–90 days to stop making their own versions. Soon after this period ended in April 2025, Lilly sued four telehealth providers for promoting compounded GLP-1s.
Lilly claimed these providers were “putting patients at risk by engaging in dangerous, deceptive, and unlawful practices.” Compounders objected when regulators declared an end to shortages; in February 2025, their trade group sued the FDA over this decision.
The legal status under which Strive sells its compounded GLP-1 products remains unclear. In its filing, however, Strive maintained that its medications are tailored for individual patients based on practitioners’ prescriptions—products it says are not offered by Eli Lilly or Novo Nordisk.
