India’s Biocon drops plan to launch weight-loss drugs in China, executive says

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Indian drugmaker Biocon has abandoned plans to market generic versions of Novo Nordisk’s hot-selling diabetes and weight-loss drugs in China due to local competition, a senior executive said.

“We decided not to do it in China, not supply or register the product in China, either finished product or the API, because there is ample capacity and players available in China,” Amit Kaptain, head of Biocon’s commercial active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) business, told Reuters in Shanghai.

Kaptain had said in 2024 that Biocon was aiming to launch its versions of Novo’s diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy in the world’s second-biggest economy after clinical trials.

Biocon’s diabetes and weight-loss products would have joined at least 15 other generics or biosimilars in development by Chinese drugmakers, Reuters has reported. Biosimilars are versions of a drug that are highly similar to approved medications.

Chinese drugmakers have rushed to develop generics or biosimilars as the patent for semaglutide, a key ingredient in both Ozempic and Wegovy, ends in early 2026 in China.

The number of adults in China who are overweight is projected to reach 540 million in 2030 and those who are obese 150 million, increases of 2.8 and 7.5 times respectively from the year 2000, according to a 2020 study by Chinese public health researchers.

(Reporting by Andrew Silver; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Tom Hogue)