About two months after the expiry of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide patent in India that unleashed a flood of cheaper generic versions, the weight-loss drugs market has recorded decline in sales in June. According to Pharmarack, the monthly sales of GLP-1 drugs fell to Rs 227 crore last month from a record Rs 236 crore in May.
The market had jumped from Rs 180 crore in March – the month in which semaglutide lost patent protection – to Rs 218 crore in April as companies rushed to launch generic versions and patients got access to more affordable therapies. The decline in June now suggests that the anti-obesity market seems to have stabilised in terms of growth.
The slowdown was expected after Pharmarack’s May report flagged the early signs of growth moderation. In the latest report, the healthcare research firm has said that the growth momentum has “started plateauing” and that the market expansion driven by generic semaglutide may have been “optimally” captured.
However, monthly GLP-1 sales in June were almost three times the Rs 78 crore recorded in June 2025. On a moving annual turnover (MAT) basis, the GLP-1 market has reached Rs 2,055 crore, up 238% from a year earlier.
Broad-Based Moderation
The June data shows the moderation in GLP-1 market was broad-based. Tirzepatide, the active molecule in the highest-selling weight-loss drug Mounjaro, saw monthly sales decline to Rs 130 crore from Rs 136 crore in May, while sales for semaglutide, which includes innovator drugs (like Ozempic and Wegovy), and generic versions, slipped to Rs 91 crore from Rs 93 crore in May.
In terms of volumes, injectable semaglutide sales increased only marginally from 190,000 units in May to 202,000 units in June, with the pace of incremental generic sales slowing significantly. The report noted that four innovator semaglutide brands (Wegovy, Ozempic, Poviztra, Extensior) continue to grow steadily despite generics accounting for 82% of unit sales, which indicates sustained physician confidence in evidence-backed brands despite the generic onslaught. “The innovators continue to show steady growth month-on-month, indicating loyal prescriber base and eligible patient onboarding,” the report stated.
Experts said that the next phase for weight-loss drugs will depend on expanding the eligible patient pool, improving long-term treatment adherence and sustaining physician adoption rather than on affordability alone.
Broader Pharma Market
Even as GLP-1 momentum is cooling down, the broader pharma market continues to strengthen. Based on the first-half performance, Pharmarack has upgraded its forecast for the domestic market to 11.3% growth in calendar year 2026, well above its earlier realistic estimate of 7.8-8.1% and higher than the 8.1% growth recorded in 2025. It now expects the domestic market to touch Rs 2.68 lakh crore by the end of the year, compared with Rs 2.41 lakh crore in 2025, driven by stronger-than-expected growth across anti-diabetics, cardiac therapies, nutritionals, anti-neoplastics and other major therapy areas.
“Nutritionals, pain/analgesics, derma, gynaec, vaccines and stomatologicals are some of the core trade therapies that look more upbeat in performance as compared to what they were six months back,” it added.