Semaglutide generics launch pushes sales of GLP-1 drugs by 75% in 1 month
April sales data shows indigenous obesity and diabetes drug, led by Torrent, are expanding access without denting demand for branded versions.
Generic semaglutide drugs have rapidly captured half of India’s market by value within a month of launch, while Novo Nordisk’s branded products continue to retain demand. (Image via Freepik) THE MARKET for diabetes and anti-obesity GLP-1 medicines has risen by over 75% in size since the launch of generic versions of semaglutide over a month ago, shows recently released pharmaceutical market data.
Total semaglutide sales have gone up from 25,000 units in February to 1.7 lakh units in April, driving the overall sales of GLP-1 medicine.
The data shows 4.14 lakh units of GLP-1 injectables were sold in India in April this year, going up by 76% from 2.35 lakh units in February. This increase was also captured in the data for March — the generic versions of semaglutide became available March 21 onwards, a day after pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk lost its patent on its blockbuster molecule — when 2.66 lakh units of GLP-1 drugs were sold.
The data shows this increase in market over the last two months was driven by semaglutide. While other GLP-1 drugs such as tirzepatide and liraglutide saw some dip in sales — dropping from 1.1 lakh units in February to 0.98 lakh units in April — there was nearly seven-fold increase in sales of semaglutide by volume.
Both semaglutide and tirzepatide — the two GLP-1 drugs that have been approved for treatment of obesity — belong to a class of drugs called incretin mimetics. They mimic the action of the gut hormones called incretins to improve secretion of insulin, inhibit secretion of glucagon that stimulates glucose production in the liver and also reduces appetite by slowing down digestion.
While semaglutide uses just one target hormone GLP-1, tirzepatide uses another one called GIP. Trials have shown more weight loss on average with tirzepatide as compared to semaglutide.
Innovator’s demand
An increase was seen in the sales of the innovator product — increasing from 25,000 units in February to 32,000 in April. But the sales of generic versions of semaglutide jumped from 0 units in February, to 40,000 units in the last 10 days of March, and 1.37 lakh units in April, according to the data.
“People were waiting for the drug and the price reduction helped,” said Dr V Mohan, Chairman, Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre.
Though the anti-obesity GLP-1 drugs by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly entered the Indian market only in 2025, just a year before the expiry of Novo Nordisk’s patent, the generic versions have not cut into the sales of the innovator products. Instead, they have created their own market.
The semaglutide market in India is split evenly between Novo Nordisk’s innovator molecule and the generic versions. Both the innovator and the generic molecules generated Rs 44 crore each in sales in the month of April.
“The innovator molecules have more or less managed to retain their market, yet there has been a significant growth in the generic versions of the drug. What this essentially means is that the generic drugs have expanded the market instead of cutting into the market for the innovator molecules,” said Sheetal Sapale, vice president (commercial), Pharmarack.
When it comes to generic versions of semaglutide, Torrent pharmaceuticals has emerged as the leader, capturing 38% of the market. This is followed by Zydus with 10% and Lupin with 9%. While this market share reflects both injectable and oral versions of the drug, the trend remains similar when it comes to injectable versions only, with Torrent leading with 28% of the market share.
The high share of total semaglutide by Torrent pharmaceutical is owing to the fact that it is the only company to enter the oral segment with its brands Semalix and Sembolic. Most of the other companies stuck to injectable semaglutide.
Changing trends
Eli Lilly’s Tirzepatide continues to be the market leader. A slight dip in its sales was noted in the month of March when the generic versions were launched, but it has almost recouped its share. Tirzepatide sales worth Rs 135 crore were recorded in February, dropping to Rs 114 crore in March, and again bouncing back to Rs 121 crore in April.
The semaglutide market, on the other hand, has expanded from Rs 48 crore in February to Rs 88 crore in April. Among this, the share of the innovator semaglutide products such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus has gone down from Rs 48 crore in February to Rs 44 crore in April, whereas the sales of the generic versions of the drug has increased from 0 in February to Rs 44 crore in April, according to market insights provided by Pharmarack.
“While the value of the market is similar for the innovator and generic products, the volume is much higher for the generic versions. The volume impact of generics, along with strong unit growth, indicates increased affordability along with aggressive promotion expanding the market,” said Sapale.
“This also shows that some doctors are sticking to the innovator molecules for patients who are able to afford it,” she added.
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