Emcure Pharmaceuticals has reduced the price on its starting dose of obesity drug Poviztra (semaglutide injection) by 55 per cent, starting tomorrow (April 3).
It has a partnership with innovator Novo Nordisk and sells its second brand of obesity drug Wegovy, under its own brandname (Poviztra). The move comes a day after Novo Nordisk slashed prices on its Wegovy (by 48 per cent) and Ozempic (36 per cent), both containing semaglutide.
More reduction
In fact, according to industry sources, Abbott too is poised to drop prices on its Extensior – a second brand of diabetes drug Ozempic, by over 50 per cent.
Abbott already distributes both Ozempic and Wegovy in India, but this is the first time it is marketing the product under its brandname, Extensior. Businessline has reached out to Abbott for a response on the price-cut, a response is awaited.
Between Emcure and Abbott’s second brands of Wegovy and Ozempic, respectively, and the innovator’s own brands – the price cuts have been aggressive, said industry watchers, bringing the pricing close to generic versions of these drugs that were recently launched.
About 10 days ago, Indian drugmakers launched their generic versions of semaglutide, after a patent on the drug expired in India, among other markets. The generics priced their products between 50 to 80 per cent lower than the innovator’s price.
Price cuts
Emcure’s revised starting dose is now pegged at ₹3,999 per month ie Poviztra (0.25 mg) will be available at ₹999 a week – making it comparable to the pricing of generic versions of the drug from top Indian drugmakers. Prices of Poviztra have been reduced by 47 per cent on an average across doses, the company said.
Satish Mehta, Emcure Pharma Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said, “The revised pricing of Poviztra is a step towards making scientifically validated weight-management therapies more accessible and affordable to a wider patient base.”
Side effects
India is estimated to have over 250 million people living with generalised obesity and 351 million living with abdominal obesity. Improving access to a globally established molecule like semaglutide is crucial to addressing this public health challenge at scale, he added.
With the market raining price-cuts, the Government has cautioned against the unsupervised use of these prescription-only products – belonging to the GLP-1 class of drugs. They are medical breakthroughs in treating type 2 diabetes and obesity, but are not without risk, the Centre said, outlining possible side effects — from common symptoms like nausea and vomiting to severe complications including pancreatitis, kidney injury, and bowel obstruction.