Novo Nordisk is preparing to start Wegovy in India, where millions of people fight obesity and are expected that the demand for drugs in weight loss will be massive. The drug will be launched in several fixed pages of dosing at accessible prices.
“We are starting with full preparation and starting with a big bang to happen in India,” Mint said in an interview Vikrant Shrotriya, CEO of Novo Nordisk India.
Read also: Ozem patent, patent challenge and plant $ 25 billion for the Indian drug market for weight loss
Before starting, she took steps to reinforce her production capacity to ensure a reasonable offer and believe that her position as a leader on insulin products-used for the treatment and management of diabetes in the country could give an advantage, Shrotriya said.
Novo Nordisk, who fired popularity through Ozemem and Wegovy, is late on the Indian market. The company launched the USA in the US in 2018 and Wegovy in 2021.
He lost the advantage of the first movement to the competitor Eli Lilly, who in the ground in March 2025 launched a remedy for weight loss Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) in the ground. It also stares at the loss of patent protection for semaglutid-loudspeakers in Ozem and Wegovy, India, India, India, India, India.
In the last few years, the company has faced several limits of supply, because the demand for its weight loss drugs has fired worldwide.
“It was an unprecedented demand for the launch of the products,” said Shrotriya, adding that the company was working on strengthening the supplier chain through investment in production capabilities around the world to engage gaps.
The company will start Wegovy in India in five dosing forces as a device filled with a pen for easy use. Novo Nordisk already has an oral form of semaglutid, Rybelsus, in India since 2022. £400 Crore in India until March 2025, according to the pharmaceutical data agency IQVIA.
While Shrotriya refused to share Weg’s prices, he said he would have an “Indian” price strategy to increase availability.
Read also: Sun Pharma appoints Kirti Gankar as the new CEO, Dilip Shanghvi to continue as chairman
Drug Eli Lilly Mounjaro, sold as once a week of vial injections, is the price for £17 500 per month.
An insulin edge
Shrotriya said that the management of the company on the Indian insulin market will also give it an advantage in the anti-lapse segment. Novo Nordisk holds a lion’s share in the Indian insulin market and represents more than 50% of the market. Two of its brands, mixtard and Ryzodeg, are among the best -selling insulin brands in India. According to Pharma Intelligence and B2B platform Pharmarack, the Indian insulin market has been awarded at £4 404 crore in April 2025.
“One of the two patients on insulin depends on us, although they have so many generic players … I think the partnership together with the doctors is something very close to our hearts. And it goes a long way to settle in this new therapeutic area, which is obesity.
Starting before the patent expires in March 2026 it also gives the advantage.
Semaglutide, a compound in Wegovia is a peptide such as insulin. “Overall, the reaction to the market for our insulin was very, very good. And we hope to continue the same reaction in terms of our semaglutid in the post-content period,” Shrotriya said.
Semaglutid and Tirzepatid, which sells Eli Lilly under the Mounjaro brand, are GLP-1 drugs (glucagon peptide-1) used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.
At the beginning of this year, Novo Nordisk said it would eliminate the version filled with the pen of its best -selling insulin brand that hours that hours £800 crore in annual sales. However, it will continue to sell in the form of a bottle.
Shrotriya said that the insulin market will remain focused on Novo Nordisk. “We will continue to be a very strong player in the sugar space with our insulin,” he said.
Competition in India
According to a study of the Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes (ICMR-India), India has a heavy burden with obesity, with 254 million people with generalized obesity and 351 million people with abdominal obesity.
“India is an unaddressed market and may be one of the countries with the highest number of patients around the world … although it will take,” said Shrikant Akolkar, Vice -President and Head of Pharmaceutical Research in Nuvama.
Read also: Zydus buys Agenus for $ 125 million, License Therapy of Cancer
According to Nuvama’s research note, the Indian loss market is worth $ 25 billion and by 2033 it could double the size.
Given that in March 2026 several Indian players, including Dr. Reddy’s, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Natco and Zydus Lifesciences are preparing to start cheaper generic copies of the weight.
“The loss of the patent could be a challenge for Nordisk, because Indian generations will have the same active ingredient (Semaglutid). If you see global data, patent will not continue this medicine for a long time, so if generic alternatives are available, people can look at Indian alternatives.”
Plus, Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro has already won the ground with £23.94 Crore on sale in just three months launched, according to Pharmarack data.
For Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk there is a limited window that earns money on the Indian anti-range market before entering the competing generic alternatives, Akolkar added.
Reach Novo Nordisk with doctors will give it an advantage, Akolkar said. “Novo Nordisk has laid a good foundation for patients through their oral drug over the last 3-4 years of foundation. They will probably have a very good reach and may have to convert this range to injections as a low-hanging growth opportunity for them,” he said.
(Tagstotranslate) Danish drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk
