Emcure Pharmaceuticals on Thursday announced that it has halved the price of its weight management drug Poviztra, a semaglutide injection, in a move aimed at making obesity treatment more affordable for patients.
The company said the starting dose of Poviztra will now be priced at ₹3,999 per month, down from ₹8,790 earlier. Meanwhile, prices across higher doses have been reduced by an average of 47%.
The revised rates will come into effect from 3 April 2026, the company said.
The announcement comes just weeks after semaglutide, the molecule behind Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, lost its patent protection in India.
This triggered a wave of launches by domestic pharmaceutical companies, which released cheaper copies or generics, triggering a rush of competition that led to a cut in the drugs' prices by more than half.
Investment bank Jefferies called it a potential "magic-pill moment" for India, predicting the semaglutide market could reach $1 billion domestically with the right pricing and uptake, according to a BBC report.
Proviztra price cut: Check revised monthly rates
Emcure Pharmaceuticals has reduced the monthly prices of its weight loss drug Poviztra across all dosage strengths. Here are the revised prices:
- Poviztra 0.25 mg: Price reduced from ₹8,790 to ₹3,999
- Poviztra 0.5 mg: Price reduced from ₹11,200 to ₹4,999
- Poviztra 1 mg: Price reduced from ₹11,200 to ₹5,999
- Poviztra 1.7 mg: Price reduced from ₹13,000 to ₹7,999
- Poviztra 2.4 mg: Price reduced from ₹15,000 to ₹8,999
According to the company, the price revision will bring the innovator molecule, backed by robust clinical and real-world evidence, within the reach of a significantly larger patient base across the country.
The development comes at a time when obesity and weight-related health conditions are emerging as one of India’s most pressing public health challenges, the company said in an official statement.
“The revised pricing of Poviztra is a step towards making scientifically validated weight-management therapies more accessible and affordable to a wider patient base," said Satish Mehta, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals.
India's pharmaceutical industry is currently worth around $60 billion, is expected to double in size by 2030. A large part of this growth comes from the country's strong generic drug manufacturing, BBC reported.
The strength is now leading to intense competition around semaglutide, a drug used for weight loss and diabetes treatment. Until recently, the injection has been quite expensive and mostly used by affluent patients. However, as more Indian companies enter the market and prices fall, the treatment could soon become far more common, the news report said.
Originally developed to treat diabetes, these drugs are now widely used as a game-changer weight loss treatment, offering results that few previous treatments could match. Semaglutide belongs to a class of medicines known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which mimic a hormone that regulates appetite and blood sugar.
