With over 20 clients in the GLP-1 class of medicines to treat weightloss and diabetes, expects to be part of the first wave of generics making semaglutide in Canada and other markets early next year, top company officials said.
This, despite its clients and being locked in a legal patent battle with Novo Nordisk involving semaglutide, the active ingredient in weightloss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. The innovator has launched Wegovy and recently slashed prices by about 37 per cent on some doses, even as its Ozempic awaits an India launch.
However, next year is poised to see the rush of generic versions, as some semaglutide patents expire in Canada in January, and other regions, including India, from March next year.
“As a CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organisation) catering to multiple partners, we believe we would be in the first wave, with one of the many partners we have not only for Canada, but for other markets as well,” Neeraj Sharma, OnceSource Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director told businessline. “The current regulatory situation is very dynamic… Even some of our Indian partners are now anticipating being in the first wave of the launch,” he added.
Clearing the air on the Canada-launch, Arun Kumar, OneSource Founder and Non-Executive Chairperson told analysts recently, the Canadian market is the first market to open up from a market formation standpoint. “We strongly believe ….this will be the situation for most players in the Canadian market, if not all. And in the first wave of filers, amongst the top players, we have some kind of a relationship, which will ensure that on market formation, OneSource still is an active player in that market,” he said, indicating that they were not dependent on a customer or an event, with 20 customers on-board.
Over nine customers will launch the product in several markets outside Canada, he said, adding that the next two quarters would be focused on readying for launches as indicated by customer timelines and regulatory approvals. “Several of our eight to nine customers d have provided us take or pay and reservation fees,” he said.
Sharma added that the next couple of quarters, “will be shaped by the semaglutide approvals of our customers,” and the market opportunity for semaglutide in regions including “Canada, Saudi Arabia, India, Brazil, and many others, which makes us highly confident of a very strong FY ‘27, basis all these launches.”
The CDMO is shoring up its manufacturing capacity, and looking at acquisitions overseas, if required, to service customer needs, Sharma said. OneSource is investing $100 million in capacity expansion over the next 18–24 months, “with a major portion allocated to expanding our flagship facility and enhancing our Drug Device Combination capacity for GLP-1 and other key programmes,” he added.The company closed the second quarter 2026, at ₹375 crore, and posted a profit of ₹44 crore.