‘Should we entertain such an appeal?’: HC rejects Novo Nordisk plea to restrain Dr Reddy’s from manufacturing, exporting Ozempic-like drug
The Delhi High Court's decision to uphold its earlier order on the issues comes just two weeks before the Danish pharmaceutical giant's patent on semaglutide is set to expire.
The blockbuster drug, belonging to the GLP-1 class and meant to target Type 2 diabetes and obesity, has been at the centre of a patent dispute in India. (Image generated using Google Gemini)
With less than two weeks left for Novo Nordisk’s patent on semaglutide — globally marketed as Ozempic by the Danish pharmaceutical giant – to expire in India, a division bench of the Delhi High Court on Monday paved the way for Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) to manufacture and export the drug.
The first greenlight for DRL had come in December last year after a single judge permitted the manufacturing and export of the drug.
A division bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla on Monday effectively upheld the single judge’s decision while also noting that DRL has put up a “prima facie credible challenge” to the validity of the patent granted to Novo Nordisk.
The blockbuster drug, belonging to the GLP-1 class and meant to target Type 2 diabetes and obesity, has been at the centre of a patent dispute in India.
The division bench took a view that “it is prima facie clear that semaglutide would be obvious from the teachings contained” in the patent which covered its generic molecule, the patent over which expired in 2024.
Novo Nordisk had alleged that DRL had been exporting and importing the drug for its own chain of development of the medicine. Though DRL had not disputed the fact, it invoked provision of the Patents Act, seeking that the protection granted to Novo Nordisk be revoked, by contesting the validity of it in the first place.
However, while dealing with Novo Nordisk’s appeal, the division bench advocated for “applying the principles of balance of convenience and irreparable loss,” before interfering, especially in a case such as the present one, where at the time of hearing the argument and reserving its judgment, the patent was to remain valid for two months.
“What irreparable loss, we ask ourselves, is the appellant (Novo Nordisk) suffering, as a result of the impugned judgment? Why, for that matter, should we even spend valuable time of the Court when a mere two months were left for the suit patent to expire? When Courts are inundated with cases, of far greater urgency, which it has no time to decide, should we at all entertain such an appeal?…” the court recorded in the opening paragraphs of its verdict. “Is the appeal not liable to be dismissed even on the principles of balance of convenience and irreparable loss, dehors the merits of the case?…such appeals are argued for hours at a stretch, holding up, in the process, matters, perhaps relating to the poor and needy, who may be waiting for years without a job or means to fend for themselves and their families, waiting for justice,” the court added.
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“We reiterate that our concern is only with a case such as this, in which only two months were left for the suit patent to expire even when we reserved judgment. No one, therefore, would stand to benefit, even if we were to injunct the respondents for two months,” the court said. “Would the interests of justice, in such a case, be not sufficiently safeguarded by directing the respondents to maintain accounts of the returns from sale of the allegedly infringing drug, for these two months?…We sincerely feel that, in such cases, the Court must, apart from addressing itself to the merits of the matter, also consider whether, applying the principles of balance of convenience and irreparable loss, it should interfere,” the court noted.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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