Sales of Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight loss drug Mounjaro have soared in India, becoming the best-selling brand in October, just six months after launching in the world’s most populous country.
The drug recorded sales ₹100 crore in October, dethroning the previous best-selling antibiotic Augmentin, which recorded sales ₹According to data from the news platform Pharmarack on Friday, 80 million crowns during the month. Since its launch in late March 2025, Mounjara’s total sales have reached ₹333 million crowns.
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London-based GSK’s broad-spectrum antibiotic Augmentin continues to hold its top position on a moving annual total (MAT) basis with sales ₹863 crore in the twelve months to October 2025. MAT refers to the total sales recorded in the last 12 months.
This means that Eli Lilly has seized the nascent Indian anti-obesity market by leaps and bounds, overtaking competitor Novo Nordisk. According to data from Pharmarack, the brand ranked second in sales in September.
The brand’s popularity is driven by rapid adoption among the country’s affluent population. An analysis of sales pockets in Mumbai by Pharmarack showed that clusters with affluent or celebrity populations, such as the Worli-Dadar-Wadala region, had higher income. “These localities also have a relatively higher concentration of obesity and weight loss clinics in Mumbai,” the Pharmarack report showed.
This development highlights India’s growing willingness to pay a premium for lifestyle drugs. However, Mounjara’s growth is driven by value, volumes are still modest, noted Sheetal Sapale, Vice President, Commercial, Pharmarack.
Augmentin has held the top spot for the past several years, she said, adding that it will likely continue to maintain its leadership position. “The nature of the drug is anti-infective, the need for it will not die,” she told Mint.
Additionally, with branded generic versions of obesity drugs hitting the market next year, prices will drop and value growth may stabilize, she added.
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Anti-Obesity Drugs Market in India Worth it ₹600 million from July 2025 could rise to ₹2,000-3,000 crore by FY27, Shrikant Akolkar, pharma research analyst at Nuvama, told Mint earlier.
Lilly’s profits
Last month, Eli Lilly also inked a deal with domestic giant Cipla to distribute diabetes and weight loss drug Tirzepatide under a second brand, Yurpeak, to expand its reach.
The idea of roping in Cipla is to tap into markets that are currently out of Eli Lilly’s reach. The partnership also marks Cipla’s entry into the rapidly growing slimming drug market in India. India’s weight loss drug market is expected to grow rapidly, with more than 254 million people living with obesity and more than 100 million adults suffering from diabetes.
Mounjaro, or Tirzepatide, begins in ₹14,000 per month for a dose of 2.5 mg, up to ₹27,500 for a 15mg dose. The drug is available in both pen and vial versions and is taken once a week.
Tirzepatide is a prescription drug that activates both glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptors. It is used to treat type 2 diabetes and to manage weight in overweight and obese adults with at least one weight-related comorbidity. A person with a body mass index of at least 27 is considered overweight and at least 30 is considered obese.
GLP-1 drugs have gained worldwide popularity over the past five years, and the market is expected to grow to $95 billion by 2030, according to investment bank Goldman Sachs. While Mounjaro was the first anti-obesity drug to be launched in India, it was soon followed by rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) in July.
Compete with Novo Nordisk
India has become the latest battleground for Lilly and Novo Nordisk with a large volume of addressable patients.
Novo Nordisk launched its weight loss brand Wegovy in India in July as a once-weekly pen-filled medicine. Semaglutide is also available as an oral drug called Rybelsus from 2022.
After gaining steep popularity until November 2024, sales of Rybelsus have stabilized and now seem to be influenced by new entrants, according to the latest report from Pharmarack.
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Mounjaro has also continued to outperform Wego’s, with the former’s monthly sales almost 10 times that of Wego’s.
Novo Nordisk is also likely to launch Ozempic (semaglutide) in India soon.
Semaglutide, the compound in Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus, is set to lose its patent exclusivity in India in March, opening the floodgates for branded generics to enter.
Several leading drug manufacturers in the country, including Sun Pharma, Mankind Pharma and the Dr. Reddy’s to be among the first to launch generic or copycat versions of the drug.
Generic drugs will be brought to market at a lower cost, and drug volumes are expected to increase as they become available to a larger population.
