Weight-loss drug boom likely to fuel an injector pen maker

Mumbai: With sales of weight-loss drugs surging and set to go up even more as semaglutide goes off patent early next year, a low-profile manufacturer of injector pens, Gujarat-based Shaily Engineering Plastics, is set to reap a windfall. Its stock has nearly doubled over the past 12 months. Manufacturers of the pen-like devices that make it easy to self-administer metered doses that would otherwise need to be injected with a syringe are the unnoticed beneficiaries of weight-loss drugs becoming blockbusters.

Shaily is doubling capacity in line with plans of top pharma companies to launch generic versions of GLP1 weight-loss drugs early next year in India and overseas, said a senior company executive. It will be increasing capacity to 80-85 million pens by this fiscal year end from 40-45 million currently to cater to domestic and export demand, Sanjay Shah, chief strategy officer, told ET.

"We will look at further expansion and ramp up (in FY27). Currently, we are working with multiple players who are looking to launch generic semaglutide in different markets," he said.


According to Shah, various estimates suggest global demand for injector pens is likely to reach 500 million per year in the next two-three years and about 2 billion by 2030-32.

This is leading industry insiders to predict a looming supply crunch for pen injectors.

India's leading drugmakers like Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Cipla and Lupin are expected to be a part of the first-day launch wave in several international markets and India as soon as the patent expires.

Shaily is investing about '125 crore in FY26 on capacity expansion of its IP-led pen platform.

"We will be expanding (capacity) going forward to cater to the global as well as domestic market," said Shah.

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk's weight-loss molecule semaglutide, branded Ozempic and Wegovy, will go off patent in March next year, opening up the gates for Indian and overseas drugmakers to launch cheaper generic versions.

Experts expect an immediate price reduction of 50% and further by 60-80% over the coming years. This will boost affordability, potentially spurring sales of the drug and consequently, injector pens.

In the past, shortages of both Eli Lilly's tirzepatide and Novo's semaglutide in the US were largely due to lack of devices and fill-n-finish capacities after demand for the drugs far outstripped supply.