India launches cheaper weight loss drugs, Novo Nordisk bets its brand will stay on top

First wave of generic versions novo nordisk The GLP-1 weight loss drug went on sale in India over the weekend, with at least five domestic drug makers cutting the original price by up to 80%. This comes as the Danish drugmaker’s patent expires on Friday and the company struggles to maintain its leadership in the lucrative market.

India is an important market, with around 100 million people living with diabetes and around a quarter classified as obese. The country is also known as the “pharmacy of the world” and has a well-developed generic drug industry, supplying approximately 20% of the world’s off-patent medicines.

Sun PharmaceuticalThe company, one of the world’s top generic drug makers, on Saturday launched generic semaglutide at a low price of 750 rupees (about $8) for a once-weekly injection, or about 3,400 rupees a month. This is comparable to Novo’s retail price in India, which is between Rs 8,800 and Rs 10,000, depending on the dose.

Meanwhile, focus on exports Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory The company has so far launched semaglutide for diabetes treatment at around Rs 4,200 per month and plans to expand to Canada, Turkey and Brazil this year.

The company’s goal is to democratize access to GLP-1 medicines around the world, Deepak Sapra, CEO of Dr. Reddy’s Pharmaceutical Services and API, said at a virtual launch event on Saturday. The company aims to sell 12 million semaglutide pens annually in the first year of launch in all markets, including India.

“This is something that Indian generic companies have been preparing for for a long time,” Salil Khariampour, an independent pharmaceutical consultant based in India, told CNBC.

More than 50 brands are expected to launch generic versions of semaglutide in the coming months. Kalyanpur said this number is small by Indian standards because manufacturing these drugs is relatively complex and subject to stricter quality controls.

Semaglutide remains protected from generic competition in the United States, its largest market, until 2032, but patent expirations in India, Canada, Brazil, and China this year are likely to have a major impact on semaglutide’s profits. Novo warned in February that 2026 sales could fall between 5% and 13%.

Novo is already facing a decline in market share amid intense competition from the US. Eli Lilly and other pharmaceutical companies. US President Donald Trump has also been pushing for lower drug prices, and an agreement with his administration in November reduced domestic GLP-1 prices. It’s unclear whether higher volumes will offset lower prices.

According to Reuters, in December last year, before the patent expired, Novo cut the price of Wigobee in India by 37% from its launch price in India.

Analysts told CNBC that Novo needs to lower prices in India to protect market share. Vishal Manchanda, pharmaceutical sector analyst at Systematix Group, said Novo could maintain a significant market share if it maintains a 15-20% premium over generic versions.

Sidbank analyst Soren Lontoft Hansen said the entry of generic drugs would impact Novo’s sales in India, but it was not yet clear whether the Danish drugmaker would lose its top spot.

Novo has historically maintained a major market share despite losing patent protection. The company has been a major maker of insulin since its founding a century ago, and continues to dominate the market, still selling at higher prices than generic rivals. Hansen said generic manufacturers have struggled to scale up production to counter Novo’s dominance.

Novo is confident in its ability to retain users in India. “Our scale, technology and complete ecosystem of care justify our price after a 37% reduction,” Novo Nordisk India Managing Director Vikrant Shrotriya told CNBC’s “Inside India” on Friday.

After Lilly launched rivals Munjaro and Zepbound, Novo launched India’s popular obesity drug Wigovy and diabetes drug Ozempic, available at a much lower price, and is now launching a second brand, so it has “turned a failure into an opportunity,” Khariampour said.

Wegovy will be launched as Poviztra through a partnership with Emcure Pharma, and Ozempic will be marketed as Extensior through a partnership with Abbott India. These partners provide deep connections with pharmacies and physicians across the country, increasing the reach of pharmaceutical companies.

Kalianpour said this is a classic strategy to protect premium brands from cheaper generics, adding that Novo relies heavily on its reputation. “A brand is essentially a moat.”

Sun Pharma and Dr. Reddy’s launched semaglutide at a price about 50% lower than Novo’s original price, but smaller domestic manufacturers such as Natco Pharma and Alkem Laboratories are offering steep discounts of nearly 80%.

Natco PharmaThe vial formulation is priced at Rs 1,250 per month, making it one of the most affordable options on the market. Alkem Institute has introduced pre-filled semaglutide injection with lowest price starting from Rs 1,800 per month.

Through a combination of affordable pricing and “broad distribution across smaller cities in India,” Alkem aims to “make this product available to more patients who need it,” CEO Vikas Gupta told CNBC in an email.

Sales of GLP‑1 drugs in the country are growing rapidly, with annual sales rising 178% year-on-year to Rs 14.46 billion in February, according to data from Indian market intelligence firm Pharmarack.

Despite the growing popularity of these GLP-1 drugs in India, price remains a major deterrent. Diabetes specialist Rajiv Kobil said almost 50% of patients could benefit from GLP-1 drugs, but only 5% currently use them.

The Mumbai-based diabetologist admitted there was no official indication of fresh price cuts from Novo or Eli Lilly, but said, “Novo will bite the bullet eventually.”

Meanwhile, he plans to wait for more evidence about the effectiveness and availability of new generic drugs before switching patients from Novo and Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs.

GLP-1 medicines, such as semaglutide, are peptide-based medicines that are more complex to manufacture because they require specialized technologies for production and distribution, including cold chains for storage. This is different from most medicines manufactured in India, such as painkillers and antibiotics.

“These molecules are much more complex than, say, aspirin, so we have to be very careful with quality control,” Knud Jensen, professor of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen and president of the European Peptide Association, told CNBC.

“Quality control of these large molecules is more difficult than smaller molecules,” he said. “The molecules administered to the patient must be perfect and free of by-products and contaminants.”

However, Kalianpour said many underestimated the progress of Indian pharmaceutical companies over the past decade.

“Today they understand that compliance is no longer a cost, but can be turned into a very valuable moat,” he said. “This is a big mindset shift happening in India.”

But experts generally agree that despite progress, India’s quality control has not yet caught up with Europe and the United States.

There are concerns among some industry watchers that generic semaglutide may become available on the market where it is still protected by patents. Ben van der Schaaf, a partner at Arthur D. Little, told CNBC: “If India starts manufacturing GLP-1 on a large scale, no matter how hard companies try, it’s not going to all stay in India, and countries are trying to block its imports.” “It’s big business.”

Henrik Hallengreen Laustsen, an analyst at Jüske Bank, said Novo could maintain its market advantage if the law was followed and semaglutide was sold only in countries where the patent had expired.