Weight-loss drug bulks up sales as patients upgrade dosage
Eli Lilly's weight-loss and diabetes drug, Mounjaro, has rapidly gained popularity in India, achieving Rs 24 crore in sales within three months. Young adults in their 30s and 40s are showing significant interest, with many upgrading to higher doses. While experts acknowledge its potential in addressing obesity, they caution about long-term efficacy, side effects, and affordability for the Indian population.
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Mumbai: Sales of Mounjaro, Eli Lilly 's blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drug, have touched Rs 24 crore within three months of its India launch, making it one of the most popular and fastest adopted new drugs in the country, with many people in their thirties and early forties showing interest.The sales grew 60% month on month to Rs 12.60 crore last month from Rs 7.87 crore in April, with the 5 mg injections accounting for Rs 7.53 crore—up 145% from Rs 3.08 crore in the previous month, data from industry tracker PharmaTrac showed. This indicates that patients are upgrading to higher doses after taking an initial base dose of 2.5 mg, experts said.Typically, doctors recommend a dose escalation to 5 mg after one month of starting the medication, depending on side effects. Mounjaro is currently available in 2.5 mg and 5 mg injections in India. Sales of 2.5 mg injections rose to Rs 5.08 crore in May from Rs 4.80 crore in April and Rs 1.42 crore in March, when it was launched, according to PharmaTrac data.'Our data indicates patients upgrading to higher dose after four weeks as well as new patients onboarding on lower dose,' said Sheetal Sapale, vice president, commercial, at PharmaTrac.Senior endocrinologists said many people in their 30s and early 40s are reaching out to doctors to check if they could use the medication to lose weight.'There are many young people asking me if they could use the drug,' said Vyankatesh Shivane, diabetology and endocrinology consultant at Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre in Mumbai. He said Indian patients are responding well to tirzepatide (Mounjaro).'Clinical trials conducted previously on Indian obese diabetes patients have shown good weight loss benefits at more than 20% as well as good sugar control,' Shivane said. 'Both semaglutide (Novo Nordisk's Wegovy) and tirzepatide have completed cardiovascular safety trials and have shown added benefits of reduction of cardiovascular events in Type 2 diabetes patients,' he added.Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk is expected to launch its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy in India this year. Doctors said medications like Mounjaro and Wegovy could prove an actionable remedy in a country of 80 million obese people.However, they cautioned that it would take four to six months to assess their effect on a larger Indian population regarding actual weight loss efficacy, potential weight regain after stopping the medication, and side effects.According to Shivane, clinical trails have shown weight regain of 5-7% once the drug is stopped. 'That is where patients will need counselling in order to adopt a healthier lifestyle including healthy dietary habits and regular exercise,' he said.Nitin Kumar Sinha, consultant physician at Mumbai-based WeCare Wellness, said, 'The molecule is good. Global studies suggest there are patients who have benefitted from it, but there are also those who have dropped out due to side effects that are mostly gastrointestinal in nature.' Commonly reported side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation and abdominal pain. Sinha said it will take 3-4 months to tell how the drug is working on Indian patients. 'One also has to look at the affordability issue,' he added. In India, Mounjaro is priced at Rs 3,500 for a 2.5 mg vial and Rs 4,375 for a 5 mg vial, which translates to Rs 14,000-17,500 per month, depending on the weekly dose. This means a six month treatment could cost about Rs 1 lakh.According to a recent study published in leading medical journal Lancet, 70% of India's urban population is classified as obese, or overweight.'Obesity is like a pandemic in India and diabetes is very common and it is one of the useful drugs,' Anurag Lila, visiting consultant endocrinologist at Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital in Mumbai, told ET in a recent interaction.
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