Novo Nordisk Is Selling Ozempic for $24 a Week in India. Why It’s So Cheap.
Dec 12, 2025 07:41:00 -0500 by George Glover | #Biotech and Pharma
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk launched Ozempic in India on Friday. (SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)
Key Points
- Novo Nordisk launched Ozempic in India at 8,800 rupees (about $97.27) for a 0.25 mg dose, or $24 per week.
- The 0.25 mg dose of Ozempic sells for $997.58 in the U.S., equating to $249.40 weekly before discounts.
- Novo Nordisk’s U.S. shares are down 42% for the year due to competition.
Novo Nordisk launched Ozempic in India on Friday—and the weight-loss drug, which is also sold as a diabetes treatment in some countries, will sell at a massive discount there compared with U.S. prices.
Novo is selling the 0.25 mg dose at 8,800 rupees (about $97.27), according to Reuters. The pen covers four weekly doses, so the pricing works out to about $24 a week.
In the U.S., the 0.25 mg dose sells for $997.58 before any discounts or rebates are applied. That works out to $249.40 a week—meaning Americans without health insurance are paying more than 10 times as much for Ozempic. However uninsured patients can pay cash through NovoCare for a significant discount. Novo Nordisk was contacted for comment.
There are a couple reasons why the drug is so much more expensive in the U.S. India has weaker patent protection laws, and Novo’s patent on semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, is due to expire in March 2026, according to Reuters. That would give Novo more incentive to cut prices to remain competitive.
Assuming the Ozempic sold in India is manufactured there, costs of production tend to be lower in India.
Some of the disparity is down to supply issues. Novo in December 2024 bought three manufacturing sites for $11 billion, in a bid to ramp up its supply of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S.
Novo’s U.S. shares climbed 0.4% on Friday. They’re down 42% for the year, plummeting amid worries about sluggish sales growth due to competition from pharma companies that make cheap, knockoff weight-loss drugs.
Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com