Just five months after Novo Nordisk launched Wegovy in India, the Danish company has partnered (PDF) with Emcure Pharmaceuticals to increase access to the weight-loss treatment in the nation.
Emcure, a 44-year-old drugmaker based in Pune, India, will distribute and commercialize the 2.4 mg GLP-1 treatment under the brand name Poviztra. The collaboration will “strengthen the distribution and marketing of semaglutide for weight loss, particularly through pharmacies and in regions beyond those currently served by Novo,” the companies said in a release.
Emcure did not disclose what it will charge for Poviztra. In India, Novo Nordisk recently cut Wegovy’s 2.4 mg price to 16,400 rupees per month (about $187), according to Reuters.
Emcure is the 13th-largest pharma company in India, as ranked by 2025 sales. It operates in more than 70 countries, with a significant presence in Europe and in Canada.
“With our strong understanding of the country’s diverse geographical landscape and established marketing capabilities, we are confident about making this molecule available to patients who need it the most,” Emcure CEO Satish Mehta said in a statement.
The announcement comes less than three weeks after Novo’s market rival, Eli Lilly, revealed a similar collaboration in India to increase access to its obesity and diabetes products.
The Indianapolis drugmaker lined up Cipla to distribute and commercialize tirzepatide, branded as Yurpeak, and said that it would cost the same as the company charges in India for diabetes drug Mounjaro, which is roughly $300 at its highest dose. Yurpeak will be available in a multi-dose prefilled pen. Lilly launched Mounjaro in India in March of this year.
Like Novo, Lilly noted that the effort was designed to increase access to the treatment beyond the major cities where the company has operated.
“Our mission—to make life better for people around the world—drives our commitment to accelerate the introduction of innovative medicines and expand access to hard-to-reach communities,” Winselow Tucker, the president and general manager of Lilly India, said in a release last month.
Right now, the top product in the Indian market is Novo’s oral diabetes treatment Rybelsus, which the company launched there in 2022, according to the BBC. But the landscape for Novo and Lilly’s diabetes and weight-loss drugs in India may soon shift, as semaglutide is expected to face a patent expiration next year.
India has nearly 254 million people living with generalized obesity and another 351 million living with abdominal obesity, Novo and Emcure said.