Denmark’s pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is going to launch its famous weight loss drug ‘Wegovy’ in India in the next few weeks. This drug is considered effective in the treatment of obesity worldwide. The company wants to increase its presence in the emerging market like India through this move, especially when its patent period is close to the end of the end. The company told Moneycontrol, “We are going to launch Vagovi (Injectable Semaglutide 2.4 mg) in India this year. This drug works with complete medical capacity for the treatment of obesity and weight control.”
Novo Nordisk’s statement before launch in India
Denmark’s drug company Novo Nordisk has said that he is fully prepared to launch its weight loss drug Vegovi in India. The company said that they are not only limited to selling medicines, but also consider the availability of treatment, awareness and access to patients as their responsibility. According to the company, the need to treat obesity in India is increasing rapidly and this challenge can be resolved with the help of modern medicines like Vagovi.
Let us know that about 100 million people in India are struggling with diseases like diabetes and obesity. Obesity is not only a major cause of diabetes, but it is also associated with more than 200 health problems. These include serious conditions such as high blood pressure (hypertension), heart diseases (coronary heart disease) and sleep related problems (sleep apnea).
What is Vegovi?
Wagovi (whose main component is semaglutide) is a special type of drug, prepared for adults and adolescents struggling with obesity. Especially for those who are struggling with any other health problem with excess weight.
How does Vegovi work?
This drug reduces appetite and helps in weight loss by slowing down digestion. In this, the amount of semaglutide is usually more than the drug ozmpic given for diabetes.
The preparation of Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Vagovi in India is being prepared at a time when the company is struggling with lack of time. Indeed, the main component used in vegovi, ozmpic and ribelusus (which is found in the form of semaglutide in India) will end the patent of semaglutide in March 2026 in India. As soon as the patent period is over, the chances of generic medicines in the market will increase, which can speed up competition. A market analyst said that in this situation, Semaglutide is getting less patent protection than its main rival Elli Lily and Company’s drug Maunzaro, as the patent life of Maunzaro is longer. Therefore, it has become necessary for Novo Nordisk to make a rapid presence in a large and emerging market like India, so that it can strengthen his base before the patent is over.
Novo Nordisk in a direct collision with Maunzaro
Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Vegovi’s launching, now makes her stand directly with Elli Lily’s drug Maunzaro. Eli Lily introduced Maunzaro in India in March 2024 and now both pharmaceutical companies are trying to strengthen their hold in big markets like India. Although there is a ban on direct advertising of drugs in India, both companies are reaching people through the disease awareness campaign. The popularity of these drugs has increased so much that their demand is being seen in black marketing even before the official launch. Some people are asking these medicines from abroad, which is considered to be smuggling in a way.
In the year 2024, Novo Nordisk earned a 201.84 billion Danish chronner (about $ 29.3 billion) from Semaglutide. This was about 70% of the company’s total sales, showing how important Semaglutide is to them.
Now the supply of medicine will be easy in India
According to sources, the Novo Nordisk wanted to launch the Vagovi, a weight loss drug in India last year, but the plan was averted due to its excessive demand and problems of production worldwide. Now the company has invested thousands of crores to increase production capacity and also added three new factory units to its network. During the fresh quarter report of the company, it was reported that the supply is now improving. The US drug regulatory body USFDA also removed Semaglutide from the “Lack of Drug Lack” in February. With this, Novo is now able to launch this medicine in many other countries.
This medicine is also considered important for India. According to the National Family Health Survey (2019–21), 24% of women and 23% of men in India are troubled by obesity or overweight. Medications like vegovi act as a natural hormone in the body that reduces appetite and control blood sugar. Due to this, people are able to lose weight by 10-15% on an average. Although there has been a lot of publicity by celebrities on social media about these drugs, doctors say that it is just a medicine taken on the advice of a doctor, as it is a serious illness.
