Another GLP1 Generic launch: India's Dr Reddy's
Yet another manufacturer signs up to produce generic Semaglutide for much of the world (ex. EU and USA) - what does Dr. Reddy's have planned?
The recent change in patent protection for Novo Nordik's Semaglutide seems to have opened the flood gates. For those who aren't aware, Novo Nordisk let their patent lapse:
GLP1.Guide Staff
(Patent protections were due to expire in 2026 anyway)
This has opened the door for many large pharmaceuticals to legally create/compound their own Semaglutide formulations as soon as 2026. In the past the expectation was that (at least for the US) Semaglutide would be under patent protections until 2033:
GLP1.Guide Staff
The rest of the world seems to be getting much earlier access to generic GLP1s, which will be massive for the countries that have access to Semaglutide, an incredibly well researched and effective weight loss and type 2 diabetes drug.
India's large pharmaceutical manufacturers have up until now been mostly quiet with regards to GLP1 – Novo Nordisk launched Semaglutide in India just last month and Eli Lilly has been there longer. Both of the top GLP1 companies have been expanding in India and have been seeing growing adoption.
Dr. Reddy's is entering an already crowded space of companies that plan to produce Semaglutide in 2026 in many countries, and are sure to dramatically increase the supply of GLP1s and reduce the price.
Semaglutide is the second most effective FDA approved GLP1 for weight loss, so this is great news for those who want to see the price of GLP1s decrease, and accessibility increase.
What is Dr. Reddy's?
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company:
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They originally started by supplying the Indian population, but have expanded to exporting many different kinds of medications to countries around the world.
Dr. Reddy's is an incredibly international affair at this point, and have acquired or entered into deals with many national firms in various countries; the UK, Denmark, Germany, and others.
Reddy's has had some brief run-ins with the FDA back in 2015:
They were able to quickly pass this though, and were essentially cleared by the FDA by 2017 after working to get quality issues under control.
At such a large scale, it's clear that Dr. Reddy's may have started as a looser operation that targeted lightly-regulated countries, but it is now capable of delivering high quality medicine on very large scales, to many countries.
Large scale distribution of Semaglutide
Dr. Reddy's plans to sell Semaglutide in 87 countries starting in 2026 – this is massive increase to distribution for GLP1 drugs globally, and the second most effective FDA approved drug at that.
The CEO of Dr. Reddy's, Erez Israeli, is on record via Reuters confirming:
In particular he called out some countries in particular:
- Canada
- India
- Brazil
- Turkey
He's also noted the fact that Europe and the US will have to wait longer:
"U.S. and Europe will open later... (and) all the other Western markets will be open between 2029 to 2033," Israeli said a press conference to discuss the company's earnings.
That said, with the ease of mobility and likelihood of smaller firms wanting to be able to sell these incredibly lucrative drugs, it is unlikely that sales of Semaglutide won't "leak" over to the other countries where patent protections are still present.
Dr. Reddy's are not the only providers
As covered in the previous story on Hims:
GLP1.Guide Staff
Dr. Reddy's are not the only ones ready to cash in on this gold rush.
Other Indian drugmakers, including Cipla , Lupin , Biocon, Sun Pharma , also plan to launch these generic weight-loss drugs after Novo's and Lilly's success.
I think at this point we can assume that just about any manufacturer that can produce Semaglutide next year will produce Semaglutide next year.
This is great news for drug availability and costs – they're almost certain to fall as people figure out ways to get access to high quality, standardized and generic versions of Semaglutide however they can.
Novo Nordisk launched Semaglutide in India only last month, and it looks like their revenue is about to drop precipitously as soon as next year.
For patients that want to get access to Semaglutide, good things are likely coming.
