Novo Nordisk said Monday it was suing online telemedicine providers his and hers for mass marketing Cheaper, unapproved copies The drugmaker launches new Wegovy obesity drug and injection in the U.S.

Novo is asking the court to permanently ban Hims from selling compounded drugs that infringe the company’s patents and to seek damages. In a statement, Novo Nordisk accused Hims of “deceiving patients and putting their health at risk” because the safety, effectiveness and quality of the copies had not been verified by U.S. regulators.

move escalate a dispute The relationship between Novo and Himes, who said Saturday would Stop offering new weight loss pills The company started copycat after facing scrutiny from federal regulators and legal threats from Danish drugmakers. The Hims plan costs as little as $49 for the first month of oral medication, about $100 less than Novo’s approved Wegovy pill.

Novo Nordisk’s Copenhagen-listed shares were up 7.1% as of 7 a.m. ET, while Hims’ NYSE-listed shares were down 19% in premarket.

The lawsuit comes as Novo struggles to regain market share in the booming obesity drug market and fend off competition from both companies Eli Lilly and Company and a wave of composite alternatives. These copycats have proliferated due to a regulatory loophole that allows companies like Hims to sell compounded versions of patent-protected drugs when brand-name treatments are in short supply.

Semaglutide, the active ingredient in the Novo pill and its best-selling injection, is no longer in short supply in the United States, thanks to the company’s efforts to increase manufacturing capacity. Wegovy pills have seen explosive sales since they hit the U.S. market in early January, and there have been no reports of shortages.

Even so, Novo estimated in January that as many as 1.5 million Americans are still using compounded GLP-1 drugs.

Hims said its combination pills and other GLP-1 products contain semaglutide, although the ingredient is protected by a U.S. patent until 2032. Hims says its versions are legal because their dosage is “personalized.”

But Novo said it would not sell semaglutide directly or indirectly to counterfeiters and accused Hims of participating in illegal mass compounding.

John Kuckelman, Novo’s senior vice president of global legal, intellectual property and safety, said in a press release that Hims is “marketing unapproved counterfeit versions (Wegovy and Ozempic) at scale, circumventing the FDA’s gold standard review process, which is dangerous and deceptive to patients, and undermines the scientific innovation and regulatory rigor that ensures these treatments are safe and effective.”

On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Announce The company plans to take legal action against Hims over the pill, including restricting access to its ingredients and referring the company to the Justice Department for potential violations.

Novo Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Company have cracked down on compounding pharmacies over the past two years as they benefit from the soaring popularity of weight loss and diabetes drugs. Lily went through similar legal proceedings Tirzepatide, the active ingredient in its weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro, is no longer in short supply in the U.S.