mumbai, india
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In Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, power walkers circle a running track in the morning, fitness watches beeping with every step. Minutes later, some of us drift toward nearby stalls, where oil sizzles and piping hot samosas and syrupy jalebis are served on paper plates. It’s a snapshot of India’s precarious relationship with health and luxury, and its rapidly growing medical and commercial frenzy.
The enthusiasm goes beyond the impending expiration of the patent protecting semaglutide, a protein that mimics the hormone that tells the brain it’s not hungry. This is a key ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s wildly popular injectable weight loss drug Ozempic.
Novo Nordisk’s Indian patent expires in March. And the country’s huge drug-producing industry is gearing up to take advantage of that by selling generic versions.
Analysts in the country predict that a price war could occur, cutting the prices of some weight-loss drugs by up to 90% in India, and possibly in other countries as well. Investment bank Jefferies has described this as a “magic medicine moment” for India, predicting that the semaglutide market could grow to $1 billion.
“We are well prepared and prepared,” Namit Joshi, chairman of the Indian government’s Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (PharmExcel), told CNN. “The moment the patent expires, this product will be bombarded.”
Analysts say India could become a key low-cost supplier of a new global health revolution against obesity, just as India, known as the “pharmacy of the world,” helped make HIV drugs cheaper and more widely available decades ago.
This change could also be transformative for India, currently the diabetes capital of the world and one of the fastest growing anti-obesity and anti-obesity drug markets on the planet. The Lancet medical journal estimates that by 2050, 450 million adults in India will be overweight.
Semaglutide mimics hormones that regulate appetite and blood sugar levels, essentially telling your brain that you’re full. It is a core part of popular over-the-counter anti-obesity drugs like Ozempic, and is often sold pre-loaded into syringes that patients self-inject.
It’s an approach India’s big pharma companies are confident they can replicate in March.
At least 10 Indian companies, including Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Cipla and OneSource Specialty Pharma, have begun the manufacturing process for semaglutide weight loss drug, according to documents reviewed by CNN.
OneSource said it is investing nearly $100 million in drug-device combination products, including syringes prepared with weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide, among others, as part of a plan to increase production capacity fivefold over the next 18 to 24 months.
Another Indian company, Biocon, told CNN it has invested a total of about $100 million and commissioned an injectables facility in Bengaluru designed to serve domestic and international markets.
CEO Siddharth Mittal added that the company hopes to launch the product in 2027 and has plans to export to Brazil and Canada.
Rival company Dr. Reddy’s told Reuters it plans to launch a generic version of semaglutide in 87 countries, including India, next year. The company’s CEO, Erez Israel, said he expects the generic drug to generate “hundreds of millions of dollars” in sales for the company.
Pharmexcil’s Joshi believes the average price per month in India could fall to $77 within a year after patent expiry, and eventually reach around $40.
This kind of pricing won’t be hitting U.S. store shelves any time soon. Ozempic’s U.S. patent does not expire until the 2030s.
At 70 years old, Mahesh Chamadia had all but given up on the idea of losing weight. The Mumbai accountant wakes up at 4.30am for badminton, keeps a treadmill at home, and also tries out the gym, diet and yoga. But the weight always came back. After 25 years of effort, he urgently needed to find a solution. “As I got older, I didn’t want to carry this burden,” he told CNN.
Then, in 2024, Chamadia started reading about a new type of injectable drug that was making waves overseas. Every week, he scoured the newspaper for the latest information. During his medical check-up, he asked the doctor, “When will they come to India?”
By March 2025, he was first in line when Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide (sold under the brand name Mounjaro) hit Indian pharmacies. “I told my doctor I wanted to try it,” he recalls.
After nine months, he weighed 10 kilograms (22 pounds) less. That’s more weight than I lost in decades. His blood sugar levels sometimes drop to 100, the unicorn number for diabetics, but he says that has “never happened in my 25 years of diabetes.”
His triglycerides (the most common type of body fat) decreased for the first time, his energy skyrocketed and even his desire decreased. “Every Sunday for 25 years, I used to take samosas home after playing badminton. I don’t eat them now. My cravings have become negligible.”
According to research firm Pharmarack, Maunjaro quickly became India’s second largest pharmaceutical brand in September 2025, just six months after its launch. A boom in sales of weight-loss drugs has turned Eli Lilly into a Wall Street powerhouse, with its stock up more than 35% this year and its market value recently surpassing $1 trillion.
Medicines aren’t cheap. Chamadia says she spends about 25,000 Indian rupees (about $280) a month on injections, which is more than many workers’ salaries.
“Yes, it’s expensive, but it doesn’t really matter. My insulin doses have been reduced and so have some of my other diabetes medications,” he says.
These drugs are not without risks. According to the website for Wegovy, another popular brand, the most common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, and headache.
And in a country where body image is largely shaped by Bollywood stars and social media influencers, doctors are concerned about the drug’s potential for misuse.
Some clinics have already started promoting these injections as part of pre-wedding crash slimming programs to help brides and grooms quickly get in shape for their big day.
“Especially when demand for weight loss drugs soars, there is always going to be misuse,” obesity expert Dr. Rajiv Kobil told CNN.
“These are not for cosmetically slimming down before a wedding or party,” he warned.
“Managing obesity comes as a package. Semaglutide is just one tool,” said Dr. Atul Luthra, an endocrinologist at Fortis Hospital near the capital, New Delhi.
“Regular physical activity and a proper diet not only increase the effectiveness of semaglutide, but also its tolerability. If the necessary dietary precautions are not followed, there will be more stomach- and intestine-related side effects.”
Back in the doctor’s office, Chamadia scrolls through her phone to read breaking news about a soon-to-be-released high-dose pen. “We should be in India by now,” he said, glancing at the doctor. For him, each birth is more than just a prescription refill, it’s a measure of progress in finally taking control of his health.
Meanwhile, doctors are bracing for an influx of new patients seeking shots. Some patients, like Chamadia, are medically qualified, while others are tempted by first aid.
For doctors and policymakers, the countdown will take on a different urgency. Will this new age of weight loss drugs meaningfully tackle the obesity epidemic that is predicted to engulf nearly 500 million Indians, or will people leave the country in pursuit of syringe solutions, ignoring the more difficult task of changing diet and lifestyle?
Mr. Chamadia is also convinced that he is one of them. He has already encouraged his 38-year-old son, who also struggles with obesity and diabetes, to help him get appetite suppressant injections.
“It’s not just about weight loss,” Chamadia insists. “It’s important to control everything else, including sugar, fatty liver, and lipids.”
