India’s Generic Copies Dent Eli Lilly’s Sales

A flood of cheap copies of Novo Nordisk A/S’ blockbuster weight-loss drug in India is already reshaping the country’s fast-growing obesity medicine market, showing how quickly the patent cliff will affect GLP-1 makers like Eli Lilly & Co.

Within days of dozens of generics hitting the Indian market after Novo’s patent expired locally, semaglutide’s share in the country’s GLP-1 segment jumped to 33% in March from 25% a month earlier, according to researcher Pharmarack. That gain came at the expense of tirzepatide — the active ingredient in Lilly’s Mounjaro, which is still under patent protection in India — whose share fell to 64% from 71%, Pharmarack said.