Dr Reddy’s launches two new semaglutide brands amid Obeda supply disruptions

FILE PHOTO: Scientific model of the molecule semaglutide which is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s mega-blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy sits in the office of Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen in Hellerup, Denmark, October 3, 2023. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has expanded its portfolio of generic versions of Ozempic with two new brands to fill a supply-chain hit to its original Obeda injections, product photographs and marketing materials reviewed by Reuters show.

The shift, first reported here by Reuters, follows supply disruptions that hit sales of Dr Reddy’s Obeda injection in India’s fast-growing market for semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy.

Shares in Dr Reddy’s fell by as much as 2% after the Reuters report, before paring some losses to settle 1.4% lower.

Dr Reddy’s launched Obeda, a generic version of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug, in India in March and later in Canada after semaglutide lost patent protection, setting off a race among domestic drugmakers to launch lower-cost versions.

The drugmaker said at a media briefing on Friday that after encountering manufacturing issues with Obeda in July, it had shifted production to a partner’s facility to maintain supplies.

Dr Reddy’s said that its Obeda Pro and Obeda Plus would remain available in the market and could be used for diabetes treatment and weight management.

Obeda Pro and Obeda Plus are manufactured by a different firm than the Obeda injectable, supplies of which were halted after Dr Reddy’s found an impurity in the active ingredient.

Several distributors told Reuters that Dr Reddy’s is likely to discontinue Obeda and will focus on Obeda Pro and Obeda Plus.

“The company said there were some technical issues with Obeda injectable, and they recalled stocks from us. They said they would instead supply Obeda Pro,” a drug distributor said.

“When we started off on semaglutide, we basically had two sources for the product. One was our own product and one through the partner product,” M.V. Ramana, chief executive of Global Generics, said on Friday.

Having multiple semaglutide brands should not be interpreted as evidence of one replacing another, the company told Reuters earlier.