NEWS
19 June 2024

What happens when patents on blockbuster weight-loss drugs expire?

India and China are vying for market share as the patents on obesity drugs near their expiry.

By Smriti Mallapaty

Blockbuster weight-loss drugs could soon become a lot cheaper — and reach more people — thanks to Chinese and Indian pharmaceutical companies. A long queue of companies is developing copies of the complex biological drugs, and some are racing to create modified or improved versions to compete in the global market.

“There is huge potential for companies from India, China, that can help create access to these drugs,” says Abhijit Zutshi, chief commercial officer of the pharmaceutical giant Biocon, headquartered in Bengaluru, India, who oversees its generics business and is based in Woodbridge, New Jersey.

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Biosimilars bonanza

But the drugs are expensive — a month’s worth of semaglutide or tirzepatide injections can cost upwards of US$1,000. One way that Indian and Chinese pharmaceutical companies plan to slash that price is by developing biosimilars, cheaper versions of expensive brand-name drugs. Unlike generics, which are exact copies of chemically synthesized branded drugs, biosimilars very closely resemble their reference product and are derived from modified living organisms, such as yeast.

Companies are preparing to release biosimilar versions of GLP-1 drugs when patent protections lift in different markets. In China, the patent for liraglutide has already expired, and the one for semaglutide will expire in 2026 in India and China.

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