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<\/p>\n Mumbai, India
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n On any given morning in Mumbai\u2019s Shivaji Park, power-walkers circle the running track, fitness watches buzzing with every step. Minutes later, some drift toward nearby food stalls, where oil sizzles and hot samosas and syrupy jalebis land on paper plates. It\u2019s a snapshot of India\u2019s uneasy relationship with health and indulgence \u2013 and the backdrop to a fast-growing medical and commercial frenzy.\n <\/p>\n
\n That frenzy is over the imminent expiry of a patent protecting semaglutide, a protein that mimics a hormone telling your brain that you\u2019re not hungry. It\u2019s a key ingredient in Novo Nordisk\u2019s wildly popular injectable weight-loss drug Ozempic.\n <\/p>\n
\n Novo Nordisk\u2019s India patent will expire in March. And the country\u2019s colossal pharma production industry is gearing up to take advantage by selling generic versions.\n <\/p>\n
\n Analysts there predict a price war that could drive the cost of some weight-loss drugs down by as much as 90 percent in India \u2013 and possibly in other countries too. Jefferies, the investment bank, describes it as a \u201cmagic pill moment\u201d for India, projecting that the semaglutide market could grow to $1 billion.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe are fully prepared and geared up,\u201d Namit Joshi, chairman of the government\u2019s Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), told CNN. \u201cThere will be a bombardment of this product the moment the patent expires.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Just as India \u2013 known as the \u201cpharmacy of the world\u201d \u2013 helped make HIV drugs cheaper and more widely available decades ago, analysts say it could become the key, low-cost supplier of a new global health revolution against obesity.\n <\/p>\n
\n The shift could also be transformative for India, currently the world\u2019s diabetes capital and among the fastest-growing markets on the planet for anti-obesity treatments and drugs. By 2050, 450 million adults in India are projected to be overweight, according to an estimate in medical journal The Lancet.\n <\/p>\n
\n Semaglutide mimics a hormone that regulates appetite and blood sugar \u2013 essentially, it tells your brain you\u2019re full. It\u2019s the core part of popular commercially available anti-obesity drugs like Ozempic, which is often sold pre-loaded into a syringe that patients self-inject with.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s a method India\u2019s pharma giants are confident they can replicate, come March.\n <\/p>\n
\n At least 10 Indian firms, including Dr. Reddy\u2019s Laboratories, Cipla, and OneSource Specialty Pharma have started processes to manufacture semaglutide weight-loss drugs, according to documents reviewed by CNN.\n <\/p>\n
\n OneSource says it is investing nearly $100 million as part of plans to ramp up production capacity by five times over the next 18 to 24 months, particularly for drug-device combination products \u2013 things like syringes prepped with weight-loss drugs, including semaglutide.\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Another Indian company, Biocon, told CNN it has commissioned an injectables facility in the city of Bengaluru, designed to serve both domestic and international markets, with a total investment of around $100 million.\n <\/p>\n
\n The firm is hoping to launch the products in 2027, CEO Siddharth Mittal added, and has plans to export to Brazil and Canada.\n <\/p>\n
\n Rival firm Dr. Reddy\u2019s told Reuters it plans to launch the generic version of semaglutide in 87 countries, including India, next year. Its CEO Erez Israeli said he expects the generic drug to generate \u201chundreds of millions of dollars\u201d in sales for the company.\n <\/p>\n
\n Pharmexcil\u2019s Joshi believes the average price of a monthly dose in India could fall to $77 within a year after the patent\u2019s expiry, and eventually to around $40.\n <\/p>\n
\n That kind of pricing wont be seen on US shelves anytime soon \u2013 Ozempic\u2019s US patent doesn\u2019t expire until the 2030s.\n <\/p>\n
\n At 70 years old, Mahesh Chamadia had almost given up on the idea of losing weight. The Mumbai accountant wakes at 4:30 a.m. for badminton, keeps a treadmill at home, and has tried gyms, diets, and yoga. But the weight always came back. After 25 years of trying, he needed to find a solution, and fast. \u201cI did not want to carry this heavy weight as I got older and older,\u201d he told CNN.\n <\/p>\n
\n Then, in 2024 Chamadia started reading about a new class of injectable drugs making headlines abroad. Every week, he scoured the papers for updates. At his checkups, he would quiz his doctor: When are they coming to India?\n <\/p>\n
\n By March 2025, when Eli Lilly\u2019s tirzepatide (sold under the brand name Mounjaro) hit Indian pharmacies, he was first in line. \u201cI told my doctor, I want to try it,\u201d he recalls.\n <\/p>\n
\n Nine months later, he\u2019s 10 kilograms (22 pounds) lighter \u2013 more than he\u2019s lost in decades. His blood sugar sometimes dips to 100, the unicorn number for diabetics, something he says has \u201cnever happened in his history of 25 years of diabetes.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\n His triglycerides \u2013 the most common type of body fat \u2013 fell for the first time, his energy surged, and even his cravings reduced. \u201cEvery Sunday for 25 years I brought samosas home after badminton. Now I don\u2019t. My cravings have become negligible.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n According to research firm Pharmarack, Mounjaro has quickly risen to become India\u2019s second-largest pharmaceutical brand in September 2025 \u2013 just six months after its launch. A boom in weight-loss drug sales has transformed Eli Lilly into a Wall Street heavyweight, its stock up more than 35% this year and its market value recently crossing $1 trillion.\n <\/p>\n
\n The medicine doesn\u2019t come cheap. Chamadia says he spends around 25,000 Indian rupees ($280) per month on his injections \u2013 more than the salary of many workers.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cYes, it is expensive,\u201d he says, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t matter too much. My insulin doses have come down, some of my other diabetes medicines have reduced.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n These drugs are not without risks. According to the website of Wegovy, another popular brand, the most common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, and headaches.\n <\/p>\n
\n And in a country where Bollywood stars and social media influencers heavily shape body image, doctors worry the drugs could be misused.\n <\/p>\n
\n Some clinics have already started advertising these injections as part of pre-wedding crash slimming programs to help brides or grooms get into shape quickly for their big day.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhenever you have a surge in demand, especially with weight-loss drugs, there is bound to be misuse,\u201d obesity specialist Dr. Rajiv Kovil told CNN.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThese are not meant for cosmetic slimming before a wedding or a party,\u201d he cautioned.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe management of obesity comes as a package; semaglutide is just one tool,\u201d said Dr. Atul Luthra, endocrinologist at Fortis Hospital, near the capital New Delhi.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cRegular physical activity and a proper diet not only improve the efficacy of semaglutide but also help with its tolerability. If people don\u2019t follow the required dietary precautions, they will experience more stomach and intestine-related side effects.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Back in his doctor\u2019s office, Chamadia scrolls on his phone, scanning news alerts about the soon-to-launch higher-dose injection pens. \u201cIt should have arrived in India by now,\u201d he says, glancing at the doctor. For him, each delivery is more than a prescription refill \u2013 it\u2019s a measure of progress, of finally gaining control over his health.\n <\/p>\n
\n Doctors, meanwhile, are bracing for a flood of new patients seeking the injections \u2013 some, like Chamadia, who medically qualify, and others drawn by the lure of a quick fix.\n <\/p>\n
\n For doctors and policymakers, the countdown will carry a different urgency: whether this new era of weight-loss drugs can meaningfully tackle an obesity epidemic projected to engulf nearly half a billion Indians, or whether it will leave the country chasing a solution in a syringe while ignoring the harder work of changing diets and lifestyles.\n <\/p>\n
\n Chamadia, for one, is convinced. He is already urging his 38-year-old son, who is also struggling with obesity and diabetes, to join him in injecting appetite-suppressing drugs.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis is not only about weight loss,\u201d Chamadia insists. \u201cIt is about controlling everything else \u2013 sugar, fatty liver, lipids.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mumbai, India \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 On any given morning in Mumbai\u2019s Shivaji Park, power-walkers circle the running track, fitness watches…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[102,6591,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-415820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}