Boxes of Ozempic, a semaglutide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes made by Novo Nordisk.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Pricey weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy have come to be in great demand among the rich and affluent in India despite their official unavailability in the country, a report in the Economic Times has said. The drugs are said to be used by the likes of Tesla boss Elon Musk and several Hollywood actors to maintain or lose the extra pounds.
Doctors and fitness experts told ET that they often come across patients enquiring about the pros and cons of taking the injectable medicine to help with their weight loss.
Kiran Sethi, medical director at Isya Aesthetics, told ET, "There are a lot of people interested in taking Ozempic because the weight loss is so dramatic."
Often the injections are sourced into the country from abroad — Mounjaro from Dubai and Ozempic from the United States. Another US drug, Wegovy, is the only one approved by the US FDA for weight loss. Ozempic and Mounjaro have only received approval for treating type 2 diabetes.
"It’s not a prescribed drug in India so you can’t get it at a chemist here. But a fair number of people travel abroad regularly or they have people visiting them," Mumbai-based physician Vishakha Shivdasani told the publication. Shivdasani said that though asked frequently, she does not personally prescribe the injections to patients.
Tier-1 cities aside, sellers also get orders from cities like Varanasi and Ahmedabad as well. The buyers in India are mostly of three categories- celebrities who have to look good for the camera, those who have trouble losing weight over a significant time period, and those tying the knot in the recently.
Ozempic and Wegovy are drugs from Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk while Mounjaro is made by Indiana, US-based company Eli Lilly. These drugs replicate a natural hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 that helps in regulating appetite.
However, doctors warn that once you stop taking the medicine, you will soon gain back the lost weight. Also similar to all new drugs, doctors caution about long-term side effects that are yet to be seen in those using the medication.
Like with every other diet plan, doctors say that just taking the medicine will not help the patients once they stop using them. “If patients are not exercising or following a diet, using these molecules is not a great idea because even if you lose weight temporarily, it’ll come back when they stop,” Ambrish Mithal, chairman and head of endocrinology at Max Healthcare told the publication.