Novo Nordisk slashes Ozempic, Wegovy prices as generic competition heats up

Mumbai: Innovator Novo Nordisk said on Tuesday that it has reduced starting dose prices for its semaglutide brands Ozempic and Wegovy by 36% and 48% respectively. It will also offer an average price reduction between doses of 23.8% for Ozempic and 27% for Wegovy. The move comes just weeks after the drugmaker lost patent exclusivity for its type 2 diabetes and weight-loss drug semaglutide on March 20, triggering an onslaught of cheaper generics in India.

The starting dose (0.25 mg) of Ozempic and Wegovy will be available at: ₹1,415 per week or ₹5,660 per month under the new pricing that will come into effect on April 1. Currently the price of Wegovy is approx. ₹10,850– ₹16,400 per month, around this for Ozempic ₹8,800– ₹11,175 per month.

In a press release, the company said it was lowering prices “to make these innovative treatments, backed by strong clinical evidence and high scientific standards, more accessible to a broader cross-section of people living with diabetes and obesity in India.”

Vikrant Shrotriya, managing director of Novo Nordisk India, said in the statement: “By revising the price of our innovative treatments, we are trying to make best-in-class cardiometabolic care more affordable for as many type 2 diabetes, overweight and obesity patients as possible in India. We have heard from patients and doctors and are acting on this feedback.”

Copy influx

Semaglutide, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist used to treat type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management. After Novo lost patent exclusivity, India’s pharma giants were flooded with cheaper synthetic copies priced 50-90% cheaper.

Novo also reduced the US list prices of its semaglutide brands by up to 50% earlier this year due to intensifying competition.

The company relies on its innovation advantage in that its drug is supported by clinical trials and produced using superior rDNA technology, unlike generic drugs that are chemically synthesized and require bioequivalence studies to show that they are therapeutically equivalent to the innovator drug.

Novo Nordisk faces competition from generic manufacturers not only in pricing but also through aggressive marketing tactics. On Monday, the drugmaker, Dr. Resolved trademark dispute with Reddy’s Laboratories following an attempt to launch the drug semaglutide under the brand name ‘Olymviq’, which Novo claimed was phonetically similar to the brand name Ozempic.

With rising obesity rates and diabetes prevalence, India is an important market for GLP-1s. According to the 2023 Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) survey, India has 254 million people with general obesity and 351 million people with abdominal obesity. According to the study, more than 101 million people in India are living with type 2 diabetes.