Obesity drug frenzy triggers licensing deals for Indian cos

The growing popularity of obesity drugs is likely to spur Indian pharma companies to sign licensing partnerships and distribution deals as they eye the lucrative segment.

- jessica jani

Indian firms started signing big-ticket deals with innovators for novel GLP-Is and generic versions, last year. This trend may continue as the market opens up with the expiry of semaglutide’s patent, according to experts.Given the complex regulatory pathway and manufacturing required for a GLP-I pen, which involves manufacturing the compound, the pen and the fill-finish (filling the pen with the formulated drug), analysts said companies may tie up with others to bolster their supply chain and grab a larger share of the market.

GLP-Is (glucagon-like peptide-Is) are drugs used to treat type-2 diabetes and obesity by mimicking the body’s GLP-1 hormone to regulate appetite and insulin.

Major deals like Lupin-Gan & Lee, Ajanta-Biocon, Emcure-Novo Nordisk and Cipla-Eli Lilly are already in place.

In the markets this year, Ajanta Pharma is also considering a separate partnership for the domestic market, managing director Yogesh Agrawal told Mint in an interview.