When Mounjaro debuted in March, the market was on the cusp of a change – pushed by shoppers exhibiting larger willingness to make use of medical therapies for weight administration amid rising circumstances of weight problems and diabetes. However few had anticipated the tempo at which it will dominate.
Prime officers and trade insiders attribute this ascent to a flurry of causes – from the US drug maker’s shrewd advertising and marketing technique and sensible model positioning as a weight-loss drug first to superior affected person expertise with quicker and better weight-loss efficacy and exact timing.
Trade insiders peg Mounjaro’s complete gross sales at Rs 450 crore until October – a staggering determine for a remedy that entered the market this yr.
PharmaTrac information until September confirmed that Mounjaro had raked in cumulative Rs 235 crore, whereas its competitor Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) might publish solely Rs 28 crore since its launch in June.
Globally, too, tirzepatide has emerged the very best promoting drug with gross sales of $24.8 billion yr up to now, racing previous most cancers drug Merck’s Keytruda at $23.3 billion.“We’re working intently with governments, healthcare suppliers, and organisations to advance the popularity of weight problems as a continual illness,” Winselow Tucker, president and normal supervisor of Eli Lilly and Firm (India), informed ET. “Globally, our incretin portfolio technique focuses on growing entry by means of expanded manufacturing and strategic collaborations, advancing our pipeline with next-generation therapies together with oral choices, and enhancing affected person expertise by means of options that enhance affordability and comfort.”Tucker mentioned India is a strategic marketplace for Lilly. “We’re deeply dedicated to bringing progressive therapies to the nation to assist handle the numerous unmet wants of sufferers,” he mentioned.
Lilly not too long ago entered into partnership with Cipla to broaden entry to tirzepatide past high cities by tapping into the Mumbai-based firm’s advertising and marketing and distribution community.
“Increasing entry stays a key precedence, and our partnership with Cipla to launch Yurpeak, a second model of tirzepatide, displays our dedication to creating this breakthrough remedy extra broadly obtainable to sufferers throughout the nation,” Tucker mentioned.
Apart from prescription-based gross sales by means of retailers, allied specialties equivalent to cosmetologists, bariatric surgeons, and weight problems centres are sourcing Mounjaro immediately from distributors.
“Lots of them have built-in anti-obesity treatment of their bundle and the prescription might not go to the retailer… They purchase it immediately from the stockists and that’s the reason the precise gross sales are a lot increased than the prescriptions,” main diabetologist Rajiv Kovil mentioned.
Consultants mentioned whereas Lilly’s first massive edge was timing when it launched three months forward of Wegovy, its most impactful tactical determination was to launch Mounjaro in vials first moderately than ready for international pen provides.
In a market the place sufferers are cost-conscious and cautious of committing to costly new therapies, the vial format supplied an reasonably priced trial run.
Sufferers might purchase one or two vials to check tolerability earlier than shifting to the dearer Kwikpen packs.
This technique — initially born out of worldwide pen shortages — become a masterstroke. It minimize the fee barrier for first-time customers and allowed physicians to provoke remedy confidently with out overburdening sufferers financially.
“Lilly developing with vials as a result of they weren’t getting pens in India due to the demand globally was a masterstroke to chop the fee and get it right into a vial format in order that they’ve a primary mover benefit,” Kovil mentioned.
In distinction, Wegovy launched solely in pen format, forcing sufferers to purchase whole packs upfront. In circumstances of negative effects or intolerance, sufferers have been left with unused, pricey pens — a serious deterrent in India’s out-of-pocket market.
Neeraj Tulara, diabetologist and founding father of Mumbai’s Bookurdoc Specialty Clinics and Medical Centre, mentioned, “Mounjaro is now selling Kwikpen however they nonetheless have the vials obtainable… Folks like us, after we begin Mounjaro, we give one or two vials for one or two weeks after which, when the affected person is settled, we begin Kwikpen.”
Mounjaro vials are available dosing energy of two.5 mg vial for about Rs 3,500 and 5 mg vial for about Rs 4,375.
The Kwikpens are available packs of 4 month-to-month dosages of once-a-week every and value between Rs 14,000 and Rs 27,500.
Wegovy is at the moment priced at Rs 17,345 to Rs 26,050 per pen-filled injection, which includes a month’s dose of 4 once-a-week photographs.
Novo Nordisk didn’t reply to ET’s request for remark till press time Monday.
One other key issue driving Mounjaro uptake is its superior efficacy in weight reduction. It has a weight-loss efficacy of 20-22%, in contrast with 16-18% for Wegovy, consultants mentioned.
Additionally, whereas each Mounjaro and Wegovy originated as diabetes medicine, Lilly took a daring step in repositioning Mounjaro as a weight-loss and weight problems remedy first, not a diabetes injection. This distinction was essential in India, the place many individuals view weight problems as a way of life subject however hesitate to make use of “diabetes medication.” Tulara mentioned.
“There’s a model notion and acceptance amongst many sufferers about Mounjaro as a weight-loss and weight problems drug first moderately than a diabetes drug,” he mentioned.
Vyankatesh Shivane, diabetology guide at Jaslok Hospital, mentioned, “Credit score goes to Mounjaro for creating extra consciousness about weight problems and weight administration.”
Trade insiders additionally pointed to executional gaps in Novo Nordisk’s rollout of Wegovy. Frequent salesforce modifications and restricted native partnerships have impacted its adoption.
“My expertise is that there are gaps in Wegovy’s advertising and marketing,” Tulara mentioned. “As an example, their representatives hold altering and shifting… Mounjaro’s engagement has been steadier compared.”
Nonetheless, Mounjaro’s meteoric rise might plateau as soon as cheaper generics of semaglutide (Wegovy) hit the Indian market, anticipated by early 2026, consultants mentioned.
As worth competitors intensifies, sufferers might shift towards lower-cost options, particularly in long-term remedy.
“Mounjaro is prescribed extra proper now as a result of that is the honeymoon interval of weight problems and lots of people are weight reduction moderately than advantages of weight reduction. However this may plateau down within the subsequent few months with the generics coming into the market by March,” Kovil mentioned.
Medical doctors mentioned that whereas Mounjaro leads on pace, sensible advertising and marketing and early outcomes, semaglutide nonetheless enjoys stronger cardiovascular and renal final result information — which might sway prescribing developments in sufferers with comorbidities.
