Ozempic Goes Generic —But Not in the US

A drug that helped turn Novo Nordisk into Europe's most valuable company is about to lose its monopoly grip across much of the globe. Patent protections on semaglutide—sold as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss—expire Saturday in several of the world's most populous countries, opening the door to generic versions in India almost immediately and in China, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, and South Africa in the months ahead. Together, those markets cover about 40% of humanity and hundreds of millions of people living with obesity or diabetes, reports the New York Times. "The availability of these drugs, which have been restricted to high-income countries to very wealthy people, will now be democratized by the generics," said one treatment-access advocate in New Delhi.

Dozens of manufacturers have been racing to get their products approved. In India alone, analysts say around 50 generics could enter the country's $60 billion pharmaceutical market within months, notes the BBC, and eventually be worth about $1 billion on their own annually. Analysts say increased competition could eventually push monthly prices down to around $15, far below current list prices that can run into the hundreds of dollars. Public health experts hope cheaper generics will finally make it feasible for national health systems in middle-income countries to cover the medicine more broadly, not only for diabetes but also for preventing heart attacks and strokes.

The shift is a blow to Novo Nordisk, already under pressure from Eli Lilly's rival drugs and from gray-market compounded versions in the US. The Danish company has cut prices in India and China, fought generics in court, and is considering positioning its original product as a premium brand where copycats appear. Americans and most Europeans, however, face a long wait: patent-term extensions and other protections in those regions mean true generics for Ozempic and Wegovy likely won't arrive until the early 2030s, a delay critics say will cost patients and taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.