Wegovy, Ozempic regain weight as Indian generics fall behind

Mumbai: Novo Nordisk's weight-loss GLP-1 drug semaglutide branded as Wegovy and Ozempic are clawing back their lost ground with steady month-on-month sales growth as the frenzy of Indian generics begins to wane amid a crowded field of 31 brands.

While generic semaglutide unit (volume) sales growth slowed sharply to 4.4% in June from 15.3% in May, innovator brands-driven by four semaglutide products, Wegovy, Ozempic, Poviztra by Emcure, and Abbott's Extensior-maintained a steadier growth trajectory.

Meanwhile, rival Eli Lilly's tirzepatide brands including Mounjaro and Yurpeak (sold by Cipla) grew by 9.1% in June after a 3.1% rise in May, data from PharmaTrac shared with ET showed.

Data for June shows that innovators injection growth was at 11% while generics was at 5%.

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"The innovators continue to show steady growth month on month, indicating loyal prescriber base and eligible patient onboarding," said Sheetal Sapale, VP (commercial), PharmaTrac. "The speed of incremental sales by generics has slowed down, while innovators continue to grow at a steady pace."

The four innovator semaglutide brands contributed to 18% of unit sales for June, while 31 generic brands contributed to 82%, an early sign of physicians' preference to prescribe innovator brands.

Tirzepatide, though, showed a 4% dip in unit sales in June, even as Mounjaro continues to be the top selling drug in the Indian pharma market in terms of value with June sales at ₹102 crore, ahead of GSK's antibiotic drug Augmentin.

Doctors and industry experts said the pricing difference between generic semaglutide and the innovator molecule from Novo Nordisk is not very significant and hence many prefer to opt for the original molecule.

"The first reason is the price difference. Pricing of Novo Nordisk's semaglutide injectables are not significantly different from some of the top India generic brands," said Vyankatesh Shivane, senior endocrinologist at Mumbai's Jaslok Hospital. The other reason is preference for innovators if pricing is not substantially different.

"They (Novo) are the innovators. They are not biosimilars or genetically engineered versions. They are the pioneers who invented the molecule, so clinicians would always prefer the invented molecule rather than a biosimilar or biosynthetic product," he added.

Aasim Maldar, consultant, endocrinologist and diabetologist at Mumbai's PD Hinduja Hospital, said the generics market has got so crowded that they are eating into each other's share. Also, the brand recall that Ozempic has is not there for the generics. "People know semaglutide as Ozempic and many are willing to pay a little more," he added.

Analysts note that Novo's sharp price cut by up to 48% immediately after the patent expiry of semaglutide had taken the Indian drug makers by surprise. Effective April 1, Novo had cut Ozempic price by 36%, and Wegovy by 48% bringing the base price of both brands at par at ₹5,660 per month for treatment.