The Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk logos.
Mike Blake | Tom Little | Reuters
The market share of India’s hottest weight‑loss drugmaker, Eli Lilly, slipped in March, whereas rival Novo Nordisk held regular at the same time as Indian generic drugmakers flooded the market with decrease‑priced copies.
Eli Lilly’s Indian market share within the GLP‑1 class of weight‑loss medicine fell to 56% in March from 61% a month earlier, in response to information from business intelligence supplier Pharmarack. Novo Nordisk’s market share remained regular at 25%.
India is a essential market, with round 100 million individuals residing with diabetes and almost 1 / 4 of the inhabitants labeled as chubby or overweight. The nation is often known as the “world’s pharmacy,” with its well-developed generic medicine business supplying round 20% of worldwide generic medicines.
Final month, the patent on semaglutide, the important thing ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 medicine, expired, triggering a wave of cheaper Indian generics. These had been anticipated to harm the gross sales of the Danish drugmaker, however early information present Eli Lilly has taken the larger hit.
As semaglutide medicine get cheaper, the gross sales of Eli Lilly’s costlier tirzepatide-based manufacturers are more likely to see additional erosion, specialists stated.
The Pharmarack report famous that 13 Indian generic drug firms have collectively launched 26 manufacturers of semaglutide, which is prescribed for each weight reduction and diabetes administration, in a matter of weeks.
Semaglutide on the rise
“The widening price differential between semaglutide and tirzepatide, together with publicity round cheaper semaglutide generics, has led to this erosion of market share [for Eli Lilly],” stated Vishal Manchanda, a pharma sector analyst at Indian brokerage Systematix Group.
He added that over time, tirzepatide could also be restricted to wealthier sufferers with a powerful deal with weight reduction, because it stays extra efficient however comes at a better worth level.
Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro begins at round 13,800 rupees ($148) per thirty days, stated Mumbai‑based mostly diabetologist Rajiv Kovil, including it’s priced greater than double Novo’s semaglutide medicine and ten instances greater than the most affordable of the generic variations.
Demand for anti‑weight problems medicine — a class by which Mounjaro is extra standard in India than semaglutide‑based mostly therapies — is being pushed by quick‑time period customers searching for “fast fixes,” specialists stated. These embody individuals seeking to reduce weight quickly forward of particular events resembling weddings.
Decrease‑price generic semaglutide has created “rapid noise, drawing sufferers and a few prescribers in the direction of affordability‑pushed selections,” stated Kovil, including that the shift is extra pronounced amongst customers searching for fast outcomes.
Not solely have the generic firms launched cheaper variations of semaglutide, however Novo Nordisk has additionally lowered its worth for Ozempic by 38% and Wegovy by 48%, it stated in a press launch on March 31.
Worth wars
With these worth reductions, Novo goals to maintain its medicine “reasonably priced for as many individuals with sort 2 diabetes, chubby and weight problems in India as attainable,” Vikrant Shrotriya, managing director of Novo Nordisk India, stated within the press launch.
The cuts have considerably narrowed the premium between Novo Nordisk’s GLP‑1 medicine and generic semaglutide copies. The month-to-month price of Novo’s semaglutide merchandise now begins at 5,660 rupees, in contrast with round 4,200 rupees for larger‑finish generics.
Some generic variations of semaglutide can be found for as little as 1,290 rupees per thirty days, stated Anant Kharad, director at Anand Rathi Funding Banking, who leads the agency’s pharma sector observe. He added that “doctor confidence in generic high quality would be the key variable to observe over the subsequent 12–18 months.”
India’s GLP-1 market is estimated to develop almost five-fold to 50 billion rupees by 2030, and by some bullish estimates to greater than $1.2 billion, specialists stated, pushed by rising weight problems and diabetes prevalence and the entry of lower-cost generics.
Many Indian generic drugmakers have launched GLP‑1 medicine and a number of other extra are awaiting regulatory clearance, specialists stated, including that demand is more likely to focus amongst simply 4 to 5 gamers.
Solar Pharmaceutical Industries, Torrent Prescribed drugs, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Zydus Lifesciences are among the many Indian drugmakers greatest positioned to seize the GLP‑1 market in India, Kharad stated.
