Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Mounjaro becomes top selling medicine in India by value in October

Eli Lilly’s weight-loss therapy Mounjaro became India’s best-selling drug by value in October, overtaking GSK’s widely used antibiotic Augmentin, as demand soared in the world’s most populous country, data showed on Friday.

The US drugmaker’s popular injectable treatment generated revenue of 1 billion rupees ($11.38 million) in October, research firm Pharmarack said. This surpasses Augmentin’s sales of R800 million last month.

By volume, Augmentin was much higher than Mounjaro, with 5,784 units sold in October; In contrast, Mounjaro, sold at a much higher price point, had only 85 units sold.

The news comes as India has emerged as a key battleground for drugmakers looking to grab a slice of the booming weight-loss treatment market, which some analysts predict will generate $150 billion or more in annual revenue by the end of the decade.

Mounjaro, which helps control blood sugar and slows digestion, doubled its sales in the months after its launch in India in March, ahead of rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, which entered the market in June.

According to Pharmarack, the pharma generated revenue of 3.33 billion rupees by the end of October.

“Mounjaro’s consumption in India was 10 times higher in volume than Wegovy in October,” Pharmarack’s Chief Commercial Officer Sheetal Sapale told the media on Friday.

Lilly sold 262,000 Mounjaro units last month, while Novo Nordisk sold 26,000 Wegovy units.

Both belong to a class of therapies known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which help patients feel full for longer and are increasingly used to treat obesity and diabetes.

The rapid use of these drugs reflects the increasing demand for weight loss treatments in India, where lifestyle diseases are on the rise.

Lilly also signed a deal with Indian drugmaker Cipla last month to sell Mounjaro under a separate brand name.

Lilly and Novo have seen demand for their anti-obesity treatments rise worldwide, leading to supply constraints and price reviews.

Both companies struck a deal with the Trump administration to lower prices of GLP-1 drugs for U.S. government programs, aiming to improve access amid growing pressure on affordability.

Wegovy’s active ingredient, semaglutide, will lose patent protection in India in March 2026, prompting many Indian drugmakers to develop their own versions of the highly sought-after drug.