Sales of the drug have more than doubled in the past year to ₹363 crore in April from ₹147 crore a year earlier, showed data from market researcher Pharmarack.
Touted as a game changer for treating Type 2 diabetes, Rybelsus was launched in an oral form in India in 2022. The pill is marketed in three strengths (3, 7 and 14 mg), and is priced at about ₹10,000 a month.
Since its launch, India is seeing a spurt in sales of anti-obesity drugs with the market tripling in two years, recovering from sluggish growth till 2021, according to Pharmarack.
“The anti-obesity market has itself tripled because of Rybelsus,” said Sheetal Sapale, vice president, commercial at Pharmarack. From ₹24 crore in April 2022, sales of the drug have soared to ₹147 crore in April 2023, and further to ₹363 crore in April this year.
Over the last five years, the anti-obesity drug market has expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 32% to ₹474 crore in January this year.According to Pharmarack data, Semaglutide has around 66% of the value market share in the anti-obesity segment, followed by Dapagliflozin, another medication for Type 2 diabetes.Sapale said Semaglutide is expected to sustain its sales growth momentum in India, given the high obesity rate.
Overweight prevalence rate in the country is currently close to 22% for the male population, 23% for females and nearly 11% for children.
“One in four adults falls in the overweight category. Almost 5% of the Indian population of 1.4 billion falls in the morbidly obese category. These statistics indicate that as India grows to become a superpower, it is also adapting disease patterns of countries in this bracket,” Sapale said.
