We need to quickly get Ozempicky

With the key patent for semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, expiring in India tomorrow, a surge of lower-cost generics is imminent, accelerating its shift from a clinical obesity treatment product to a lifestyle-aesthetic product. The demand isn't artificial. India faces a structural metabolic health crisis. According to the Lancet, 450 mn adults are projected to be overweight by 2050, and India is already the diabetes capital of the world. Affordable GLP-1 therapies could materially improve outcomes for millions who have struggled with obesity, insulin resistance and long-term metabolic disease. But the risk lies in scale without discipline.

This pattern isn't new to India. A drug is approved for medical use, proves effective, and then diffuses rapidly beyond its intended boundaries. Off-label prescribing rises, clinics and wellness centres commercialise it, and informal supply chains bridge access gaps. By the time regulators intervene, usage is widespread, with risks discovered only after scale is achieved. Antibiotics followed this arc. GLP-1 drugs - used to manage diabetes and promote weight loss by regulating blood sugar and reducing appetite - risk doing the same. India's prescription ecosystem is porous, and a drug that is visible, socially validated and increasingly affordable will be difficult to contain within clinical boundaries or traditional care pathways.

Which is why there must be proactive governance, not retrospective correction. Regulators, industry and medical community must align quickly on prescribing protocols, enforceable dispensing norms and transparent patient education that sets realistic expectations. Digital promotion - by clinics, platforms and influencers - needs tighter oversight and clearer accountability. At the same time, access for clinically indicated patients must be protected and streamlined. The choice is not between access and control, but between managed adoption and a cycle of reactive clean-up that arrives too late.