Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant, has launched its anti-obesity drug Wegovy in India, aimed at chronic weight management and reducing the risk of major cardiovascular events in adults.
Announcing the launch on Tuesday, Vikrant Shrotriya, Managing Director of Novo Nordisk India, said Wegovy would be made available across both urban and rural markets in India in all five dose strengths.
Wegovy will be available in a once-weekly pen device at doses of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1.7 mg, and a maintenance dose of 2.4 mg, priced between ₹17,345 and ₹26,050 per month. It will be marketed as a prescription-only medicine.
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Novo Nordisk said the pricing of Wegovy has been tailored for Indian patients to ease affordability, with the first three dose strengths offered at the same price. The drug is currently being imported from Denmark.
The drug’s active ingredient, semaglutide, is also used in Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster diabetes medication Ozempic, which is not yet available in India. Unlike Ozempic, which is indicated for type 2 diabetes, Wegovy is specifically approved for long-term weight management and reducing cardiovascular risk in adults with obesity or overweight and established cardiovascular disease.
“Wegovy works by targeting key areas in the brain involved in appetite regulation, helping reduce hunger and food cravings, leading to weight loss. It also improves insulin resistance and lowers cardiometabolic risks,” Shrotriya explained.
India currently has the third-largest overweight and obesity population globally, an estimated 254 million people. Obesity is linked to over 200 diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Wegovy’s launch follows Eli Lilly’s introduction of Mounjaro in India earlier this year, another major entrant in the anti-obesity drug market.
