₹14,000 per month weight-loss shot is here to cash in on India’s obesity crisis
But, but, but… India’s obesity problem is no small fry, and Big Pharma is racing to cash in. With Eli Lilly launching Mounjaro ahead of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, weight-loss drugs are heating up the market.
Meanwhile, PM Modi has waved the red flag on India’s rising obesity crisis— 440 million people could be obese by 2050! This is “huge and scary.” With the economic burden projected to hit a staggering $838.6 billion by 2060 eating up 2.5% of India's GDP. Is India ready for the weight-loss drug wave?
At the same time, India’s weight-loss drug market is booming, growing at over 30% CAGR over the past five years to nearly Rs 600 crore. With over 100 million obese adults and 101 million diabetics, global pharmaceutical giants see India as the next big battleground for weight-loss treatments.
Lilly’s Mounjaro enters the race, beating Novo Nordisk
In a significant move, U.S.-based Eli Lilly has launched Mounjaro (tirzepatide) in India, becoming the first major player to introduce a GLP-1 weight-loss drug in the country.
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Mounjaro, a once-weekly injection approved by India's drug regulator, is priced at 4,375 rupees for a 5 mg vial and 3,500 rupees for a 2.5 mg vial, its lowest doses, the company told. Its highest dose is 15 mg.
A 2 mg weekly dose could cost a patient around Rs 14,000 and a 5 mg weekly dose could cost around Rs 16,500 per month, making it a premium product in India.
This puts Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker behind Wegovy and Ozempic, under pressure.
Reportedly, Novo had initially