* Novo bets new Wegovy pill and broader pipeline can help it

regain ground lost to Lilly's Zepbound

* CEO says Wegovy pill holds 90% of oral GLP-1 market

* Novo aims to launch CagriSema next year despite trial

weight loss trailing Zepbound

By Michael Erman

NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk CEO

Mike Doustdar said investors are underestimating the demand for

differentiation among obesity drugs, and that new treatment

options like pills will keep it from becoming a winner-take-all

battle with rival Eli Lilly ( LLY ).

Novo was first to bring a highly effective GLP-1 weight-loss

injection, Wegovy, to the U.S. market, but is under pressure to

regain ground lost to Lilly's Zepbound in a business

that analysts expect will be worth more than $100 billion a year

by 2030.

Doustdar, who took the helm at the Danish drugmaker a year

ago, said that patients are just beginning to understand which

GLP-1 drug is best suited to them, and he expects more

segmentation as new medicines are approved. More than 100

million U.S. adults are classified as obese.

"Right now the investor community has thought this is

supposed to be a zero-sum game between two players - there's a

loser and a winner," Doustdar said in an interview with Reuters

on Wednesday.

"As you foresee the future of GLP-1s and obesity and

weight-loss drugs, it will not be Coke versus Pepsi. It will be

Coke and Pepsi and Fanta and Dr Pepper and Red Bull. People are

thirsty, and they can make their choices," he said.

Novo shares have fallen sharply since hitting a peak in

2024, while Lilly shares have continued to rise, pushing the

company's market capitalization above $1 trillion.

Doustdar compared his vision for Novo's obesity portfolio to

its insulin business for diabetes, where the company sells 50%

of the world's insulins across 12 different brands, rather than

dominating with one specific treatment.

"They all reduce sugar, but they do also different things.

GLP-1s all reduce weight, but they all do different things," he

said.

Novo's new pill version of Wegovy and a pipeline of

experimental drugs are a key focus for investors.

Doustdar said the Wegovy pill currently has 90% market share

in the oral GLP-1 market, in part because it has data showing

better weight loss than Lilly's Foundayo pill.

He said it was difficult to project what percentage of

patients would end up using pills, but said "we're in a very

good place if it becomes a 50-50 market" between oral

medications and injections.

Novo said in January that pills could comprise more than a

third of GLP-1 use by 2030.

Novo's experimental next-generation obesity drug CagriSema

has disappointed investors in clinical trials, helping patients

lose an average of 23% of their body weight compared to more

than 25% for Zepbound.

Doustdar said CagriSema would still offer a powerful

addition to existing treatments. The company aims to launch it

next year.

CagriSema "has been written off pretty much by all

investors," he said. "And I say to people, when is the last time

a doctor had a single medicine in their toolbox to treat

millions?"