On March 7, 2025, when American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly launched its weight-loss and diabetes drug, Mounjaro, in India, it did two things. Firstly, it opened up the market for Indians to legally buy drugs specifically designed for weight loss. Second, it beat its competition, Novo Nordisk, which was also planning to launch its counterpart, Ozempic, in India.
Now, before we dive deeper, let’s rewind a bit.
Mounjaro. Ozempic. Wegovy. Zepbound. All these are brand names linked in some way to diabetes and weight loss-or, as the President of the United States, Donald Trump, refers to it, the “fat shot” drugs.
Today, the weight loss drug market is growing at an astonishing rate.
Data suggest this USD 1.92 billion market in 2023 will balloon to USD 50.26 billion by 2032. And there’s no doubt India will be one of the countries significantly contributing to this growth. After all, we are the diabetes capital of the world and are now also grappling with a rising obesity problem.
‘The Fat Shot Drug’
It has been nearly two months since Mounjaro, the weight-loss and diabetes drug, was launched in India. While there’s clearly growing curiosity among Indians about these drugs (we’ll get to that in a bit), they’ve made headlines again because their manufacturers-the pharmaceutical giants-are under fire from the US President.
In a recent announcement made on Monday, US President Trump vowed to slash prescription drug prices. This move came as part of his “Most-Favoured Nation” policy to protect American consumers. To further illustrate his point, Trump shared a rather, let’s say, a colourful story about a “fat, rich businessman friend” who called him from London to highlight the glaring price difference between the same drug in the US and UK.
While recounting the incident, Trump coined the term “fat shot drug” and went on to announce an executive order aimed at cutting the cost of prescription medicines in the US by as much as 30 per cent to 80 per cent. He insisted that the US should be charged the same prices as the lowest-paying developed countries.
“I’m in London, and I just paid for this damn fat drug I take,” the friend said, according to Trump. “I said, it’s not working. They said – he said – I just paid USD 88 and in New York I paid USD 1,300. What the hell is going on?” Trump added that upon investigation, he found the drug was the same product, made in the same factory by the same company, yet sold abroad at a fraction of the price.
The Internet quickly speculated that the “fat, rich businessman” in question was none other than Elon Musk, who is both a vocal promoter and user of the drug Ozempic.
Ozempic is the brand name for semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist primarily used to manage Type 2 diabetes by lowering blood sugar levels and reducing the risk of heart and kidney complications.
It also slows digestion and suppresses appetite, which leads to significant weight loss, and has made it popular for off-label use.
Mounjaro (tirzepatide), developed by Eli Lilly and Company, is another prescription drug for managing Type 2 diabetes and promoting weight loss. It acts as both a GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist, which helps boost insulin production, reduce sugar release from the liver, and slow digestion to suppress appetite. By targeting two appetite-regulating hormones instead of one, it tends to produce greater weight loss results.
For context, GLP-1 (Glucagon-Like Peptide-1) and GIP (Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide) are hormones that help regulate blood sugar by stimulating insulin secretion, with GLP-1 also reducing appetite and GIP influencing fat metabolism.
But how is Mounjaro doing, nearly two months post-launch in India? We tried to find out.
The Rising Curiosity, Ft. The Internet
If weight loss is even a minor concern for you, chances are your social media feed is flooded with tips, tricks, hacks, and all sorts of content on how to shed kilos. To reach their goals faster, some people (those who can afford it) are turning to weight loss drugs.
This is mainly because these drugs can cost as much as USD 1,000, just as Trump claimed. However, in India, when Mounjaro was introduced at Rs 3,500 per vial for 2.5 mg (a weekly dose), the comparatively lower price surprised many.