Mumbai: Eli Lilly's breakthrough weight-loss and diabetes drug Mounjaro has stunned the Indian pharmaceutical market, rising to the no. 2 position in sales within six months of its launch - a feat rarely seen in recent pharma history.
Mounjaro posted sales of ₹80 crore in September, closely trailing the legacy antibiotic brand Augmentin (₹85 crore) and outpacing the popular antacid Pan (₹77 crore) in monthly sales, as per data from industry tracker PharmaTrac. Sales grew 43% from the previous month.
Launched in mid-March, Mounjaro (tirzepatide) has raked in cumulative sales of Rs 233 crore, racing past previous growth benchmarks in India's Rs 752 crore anti-obesity drug market, the data showed.
Top diabetologists and industry experts attributed the drug's success to its first-mover advantage and superior efficacy in weight loss, giving it an edge over rival offerings like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy (semaglutide). Mounjaro has a weight-loss efficacy of 20-22%, compared with 16-18% for Wegovy.
Mounjaro is particularly popular among the young obese population, said Vyankatesh Shivane, a diabetology and endocrinology consultant at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre. “There are many young people asking me if they could use the drug,” he said.
According to Sheetal Sapale, vice-president, commercial, at PharmaTrac, the sales got a boost from the launch of Mounjaro in Kwikpens, which are disposable pens pre-filled with the drug. Meanwhile, Wegovy sales have plateaued both in terms of value and units, she said.
Eli Lilly launched Mounjaro Kwikpens in August to offer a more convenient way to administer the medicine. The pens are available in six dosage strengths and are priced from Rs 14,000 (for 2.5 mg dose) to ₹27,500 (for 12.5 mg and 15 mg dose). While Mounjaro’s total sales topped ₹100 crore within four months of its India launch in mid-March, Wegovy could post only ₹28 crore in four months since its launch in June, indicating the popularity of the US company’s product, said Sapale.
However, according to some experts, Wegovy’s benefits extend beyond weight-loss to lowering the risks of MACE (major adverse cardiovascular events). Results of studies on cardiovascular benefits for Mounjaro are yet to come. Industry experts said the bump-up in September sales came from a combination of new prescriptions, dose escalation on older prescriptions and deeper market penetration, besides the push from the introduction of pre-filled pens.
Local Tie-ups
The strong sales numbers for Mounjaro come at a time when the US pharma major is actively exploring local partnerships to expand distribution and market penetration in India. “We are open to partnerships that will help us expand our reach,” Winselow Tucker, president, Eli Lilly India, told ET recently.
India, which has 254 million obese people, is one of the key regions for Eli Lilly for its weight-loss and diabetes portfolio, Patrik Jonsson, executive vice-president of Eli Lilly and president of Lilly International, told ET in September.
Mounjaro posted sales of ₹80 crore in September, closely trailing the legacy antibiotic brand Augmentin (₹85 crore) and outpacing the popular antacid Pan (₹77 crore) in monthly sales, as per data from industry tracker PharmaTrac. Sales grew 43% from the previous month.
Launched in mid-March, Mounjaro (tirzepatide) has raked in cumulative sales of Rs 233 crore, racing past previous growth benchmarks in India's Rs 752 crore anti-obesity drug market, the data showed.
Top diabetologists and industry experts attributed the drug's success to its first-mover advantage and superior efficacy in weight loss, giving it an edge over rival offerings like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy (semaglutide). Mounjaro has a weight-loss efficacy of 20-22%, compared with 16-18% for Wegovy.
Mounjaro is particularly popular among the young obese population, said Vyankatesh Shivane, a diabetology and endocrinology consultant at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre. “There are many young people asking me if they could use the drug,” he said.
According to Sheetal Sapale, vice-president, commercial, at PharmaTrac, the sales got a boost from the launch of Mounjaro in Kwikpens, which are disposable pens pre-filled with the drug. Meanwhile, Wegovy sales have plateaued both in terms of value and units, she said.
Eli Lilly launched Mounjaro Kwikpens in August to offer a more convenient way to administer the medicine. The pens are available in six dosage strengths and are priced from Rs 14,000 (for 2.5 mg dose) to ₹27,500 (for 12.5 mg and 15 mg dose). While Mounjaro’s total sales topped ₹100 crore within four months of its India launch in mid-March, Wegovy could post only ₹28 crore in four months since its launch in June, indicating the popularity of the US company’s product, said Sapale.
However, according to some experts, Wegovy’s benefits extend beyond weight-loss to lowering the risks of MACE (major adverse cardiovascular events). Results of studies on cardiovascular benefits for Mounjaro are yet to come. Industry experts said the bump-up in September sales came from a combination of new prescriptions, dose escalation on older prescriptions and deeper market penetration, besides the push from the introduction of pre-filled pens.
Local Tie-ups
The strong sales numbers for Mounjaro come at a time when the US pharma major is actively exploring local partnerships to expand distribution and market penetration in India. “We are open to partnerships that will help us expand our reach,” Winselow Tucker, president, Eli Lilly India, told ET recently.
India, which has 254 million obese people, is one of the key regions for Eli Lilly for its weight-loss and diabetes portfolio, Patrik Jonsson, executive vice-president of Eli Lilly and president of Lilly International, told ET in September.
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