WEIGHT-LOSS MEDICINES
Semaglutide came off patent in India and the price fell by roughly three quarters. What they do, what they cost now, and what happens when you stop.
Dr. Khizer Hussain Junaidy · Diabetologist & Bariatric Physician · Telangana State Medical Council 04937
Vijay Nagar Colony, Hyderabad · consultation ₹400, including a diet consultation
Until March 2026, semaglutide in India was one company's product at one company's price. On 20 March the patent expired and something like fifty Indian brands arrived inside a few weeks.
The effect on cost has been the largest single change in obesity treatment here in a decade. A treatment that was for people who could find ₹17,000 to ₹26,000 a month is now, in generic form, in the range of ₹1,300 to ₹4,200.
Tirzepatide, the newer and more effective of the two, is still on patent and still expensive. Both are available. Which one is right for you is a real clinical decision and not simply a question of budget, though budget is part of it.
Do not take semaglutide or tirzepatide if:
Active gallstone disease, severe gastroparesis, diabetic eye disease that is changing, and a history of eating disorder all need a conversation before starting rather than after.
Percentages get quoted loosely in advertising. These are the published means from the trials the drugs were licensed on, with the durations attached, because a number without a duration is meaningless.
| Drug and dose | Trial | Mean weight lost |
|---|---|---|
| Semaglutide 2.4 mg weekly injection | STEP 1, 68 weeks | 14.9% |
| Tirzepatide 5 mg | SURMOUNT-1, 72 weeks | 15.0% |
| Tirzepatide 10 mg | SURMOUNT-1, 72 weeks | 19.5% |
| Tirzepatide 15 mg | SURMOUNT-1, 72 weeks | 20.9% |
A mean is not a promise. Half the people in those trials did better than the figure and half did worse, and a minority lost almost nothing. Nobody can tell you in advance which group you are in, though by about three months it is usually clear, which is why we review at three months and stop if it is not working rather than carry on billing you.
A direct head-to-head trial has since compared the two and found tirzepatide the more effective. That does not automatically make it the right choice for you, at four to eight times the monthly cost.
The weight comes back. This is the part that gets left out of the advertising and it is the single most important thing on this page.
These drugs work while they are being taken. They do not retrain anything permanently. When people in the trials stopped, most of the weight returned over the following year, and with it most of the improvement in blood pressure and blood sugar.
Which means this is a long-term treatment, like a blood pressure tablet, not a course of antibiotics. Before you start, work out whether you can afford it for years and not for three months. A cheap generic at ₹3,400 a month is ₹41,000 a year, every year. If the honest answer is no, say so at the start and we will spend the consultation on what else can be done rather than starting something you will have to abandon.
There is a version of this that is not depressing: for a lot of people the drug buys a window in which exercise becomes physically possible, joints stop hurting, sleep apnoea improves and eating habits genuinely change. What is kept afterwards depends almost entirely on what was built during it. That is what the dietitian is for, and why it is included rather than an upsell.
Indian body-size cut-offs are lower than Western ones, and we use the Indian ones:
They are not for cosmetic weight loss in someone of normal weight, and we will decline that.
A small weekly injection under the skin of the abdomen or thigh, self-administered, on the same day each week. The needle is short and fine. Most people find this the least difficult part.
Everyone starts low and increases over months. This is not caution for its own sake: going up too fast is the main reason people feel awful and give up.
Nausea is the common one, worst in the first days after a dose increase and usually settling. Vomiting, constipation, diarrhoea, burping and reflux are all frequent early on. Most of it is manageable by eating smaller amounts, slowing the dose increase, and not sitting down to a heavy biryani the evening of an injection.
Less common but important: gallstones, which weight loss of any kind makes more likely, and pancreatitis, which is rare. Severe abdominal pain that goes through to the back needs to be seen the same day, not managed at home.
A quarter or more of what is lost on these drugs can be muscle rather than fat, and losing muscle in your fifties is not a good trade. Protein intake and resistance exercise are not optional extras alongside these medicines. This is a substantial part of what the diet consultation is for.
Fifty brands is a lot to walk into. Two molecules are doing all the work here, and every brand below is one or the other. Knowing which is which is most of what you need at a counter.
| Molecule | Brands you may see | How it is taken |
|---|---|---|
| Tirzepatide | Yurpeak, Mounjaro | Injection, once a week |
| Semaglutide innovator | Ozempic, Wegovy | Injection, once a week |
| Semaglutide Indian-made | Semalix, Sembolic, Obeda | Injection, once a week |
| Semaglutide innovator | Rybelsus | Tablet, once a day |
The Indian-made semaglutides are often called synthetic semaglutide. That word puts some people off and it should not. It describes how the molecule is manufactured, by chemical synthesis rather than grown in cells, and the molecule that reaches you is the same one. It is the reason the price fell by roughly three quarters in March.
This is not a ranked list and it is not every brand. New ones keep arriving and some of these will have changed by the time you read it.
Four things worth checking on the box, whichever brand you are handed.
Your pharmacist may offer a different brand of the same molecule. That is ordinary and usually sensible. If you are unsure, ring us before you buy rather than after.
| What | Detail | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Generic semaglutide | Indian brands, on the market since March 2026. Prices vary by brand and dose and are still moving. | ₹1,300–4,200 |
| Innovator semaglutide for diabetes | The original brand. | ₹8,800–11,175 |
| Innovator semaglutide for weight | The higher-dose weight indication. | ₹17,345–26,015 |
| Tirzepatide Yurpeak or Mounjaro | Same molecule, same maker, same price. 2.5 mg at the low end, 15 mg at the top. | ₹13,125–25,781 |
| Consultation here | Assessment, choosing between them, dose plan, and the dietitian. | ₹400 |
Prices move, so treat any figure here as indicative. There are more than a dozen generic brands competing hard, which is good for you and means a number printed on a website goes out of date quickly.
Are these for you? That is a question for a consultation, not a web page. If you would like to work through it with a doctor, book an appointment or call reception on +91 89193 41154.
We do not mark up medicines to fund the consultation and we have no arrangement with any brand. If a cheaper generic is as good for you, that is the one you will be given.
Severe abdominal pain going through to the back, persistent vomiting, or yellowing of the eyes needs to be seen the same day. Call 108 or go to the nearest hospital with emergency facilities if you are unwell: there is no emergency department here.
Bring your current medicines, any recent blood tests, and if you have them, your weight over the last few years. Mon–Thu and Sat, 9 am–1 pm and 3–9 pm. Fri, 3–9 pm. Sun closed.