Ozempic launched: Ozempic, which costs Rs 2,200 a week, was introduced in India
Ozempic launched: The well-known Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk introduced Ozempic, a weight-loss injectable that treats type 2 diabetes, on Friday.
The business said in New Delhi that Ozempic is now available in India as 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, and 1 mg in “FlexTouch Pen,” an easy-to-use, once-weekly pen device that starts at Rs 2,200 each week.
According to Vikrant Shrotriya, Managing Director of Novo Nordisk India, the company’s goal with Ozempic is to provide patients a novel and easily available treatment for type 2 diabetes, along with significant weight control and long-term heart and kidney protection.
“In India, we are quite frugal with price. When asked how Ozempic pricing in India compares to other international markets, Shrotriya told a new agency, “It really remains very competitive, internally and externally as well, to offer at a price like this.” “I would say that it still comes under the affordability zone of the pricing, which is at a range for countries similar to India.”
In India, Novo Nordisk is only promoting Ozempic as a type II diabetes medication, he said.
“We submitted an application for type 2 diabetes. We received (permission from the Indian drug agency) for it,” he said.
Regarding Ozempic distribution in India, Shrotriya said that Novo Nordisk is working independently to provide it to all regions of the nation. He noted that the company’s collaboration with Emcure Pharma would only be used for the weight-loss medication Poviztra, which is the second Wegovy brand available in India and contains semaglutide injection 2.4 mg.
When asked about the Ozempic market possibility in India, Shrotriya said that it was hard to anticipate since demand for the medication has been higher than supply worldwide as well.
He said that the injection will be imported from Denmark, where it is made, and that this was one of the reasons Ozempic was introduced late in India in order to guarantee continuous supply.
“We remain very agile and very flexible in terms of our supply chain to service India,” he said. He said that the firm is ready for competition as generic competitors are anticipated to join the market and is certain that its product quality and brand equity would lead patients to choose its medicine, given that the injectable semaglutide patent expires next year.
Adults with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) may use Ozempic (injectable semaglutide) once a week as a supplement to diet and exercise.
According to the World Health Organization’s 2023–24 predictions, the business said that 101 million Indians, or around 11.4% of the country’s total population, had diabetes, making it the country with the second-largest diabetes-affected population in the world, behind China.
According to the report, there are 254 million people with generalized obesity and 136 million people with prediabetes in the nation, indicating a growing health crisis that calls for efficient, evidence-based treatments.