NEW DELHI: India’s Health Ministry warned on Tuesday of the unregulated use of weight-loss drugs, as cheap generic versions of blockbuster diabetes medications such as Ozempic entered the market following patent expiry.
The patent on semaglutide, the active ingredient in weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, expired on March 20 in India, allowing local pharmaceutical companies to produce their own versions and sell them at a fraction of the original price.
Several companies have already made the generic versions of the GLP-1 drugs — referring to the hormone that regulates blood glucose levels and appetite — available at popular Indian pharmacies with prices per one weekly dose starting at $15.
“With the recent introduction of multiple generic variants of GLP-1-based weight loss drugs in the Indian market, concerns have emerged regarding their on-demand availability through retail pharmacies, online platforms, wholesalers, and wellness clinics,” the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement on Tuesday.
“These drugs, when used without proper medical supervision, may lead to serious adverse effects and related health risks.”
Developed by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk in 2017, Ozempic is a medicine initially approved for use in diabetes treatment that later became known globally after demand surged for its weight-loss effects.
For several years, Novo Nordisk held a patent on semaglutide — the drug’s active ingredient — until those protections expired last week.
In India, which has the world’s second-largest population of Type 2 diabetes patients after China and rising obesity rates, the out-of-pocket cost of one weekly dose of the original Ozempic is between $20 and $50. For comparison, it is about $220 in the US and around $30 in Europe.
Though the Health Ministry said the drug was approved in India with “condition of prescription by endocrinologists and internal medicine specialists and for some indications by cardiologists only,” there are concerns over how this will be monitored on the ground.
India currently does “not have a mechanism of overall control,” said Prof. J. A. Jayalal from the Tirunelveli Medical College.
“The drugs are also available online and offline, so that is going to be a big problem because if not used under the proper medical care and proper monitoring, they could lead to a lot of complications,” he told Arab News.
But for now, Indian health authorities said they have launched “a series of targeted actions” to curb potential malpractices across the pharmaceutical supply chain and prevent unauthorized sales and use.
“Patient safety remains paramount. The misuse of weight loss drugs without clinical oversight can lead to severe health complications,” the Health Ministry said. “Citizens are advised to use such medications only under the guidance of qualified medical practitioners.”
