A surge in demand amongst prosperous Indians for weight-loss drugs touted in showbiz circles has led to a regarding development — medication like Ozempic from Denmark’s Novo Nordisk and Mounjaro from America’s Eli Lilly are illicitly coming into Indian pharmacies, sidestepping regulatory checks, an India Immediately investigation has discovered.
Pooja and her employer Amit Aggarwal of Aggarwal Pharma in Delhi’s Mehrauli space admitted to the unauthorized import and sale of Ozempic and Mounjaro with out correct documentation.
These medication, sourced from Egypt and Dubai, include various worth tags, with the Dubai variant linked to extreme uncomfortable side effects.
Pooja, talking to India Immediately’s investigative reporter, revealed the shady practices, providing Mounjaro with out payments or MRP.
“We get Ozempic on demand. It’s imported really. We don’t situation payments. There’s no MRP both,” she stated. “I can present you Mounjaro as effectively. Which one would you like?”
Pooja provided the drug in a packing of 4 injector pens.
She then related the reporter to the shop on a video name, who disclosed the smuggling routes and the related dangers, cautioning in opposition to the Dubai variant resulting from reported problems.
“You’ll be able to take these injections which can be out there. What number of would you like?” requested Aggarwal. “It comes from Egypt, and you’ll see the Egyptian labelling on the packaging. It is priced at Rs 102,000.”
One model, he added, is sourced from Dubai, which has no labelling like Egypt, however is priced at Rs 19,000-Rs 18,500.
“The Dubai variant has had complaints of extreme uncomfortable side effects, resulting in problems for sufferers. It is not really useful. It considerably lowers sufferers’ blood stress.”
Additional investigation led to related findings at AV Pharma in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, the place Vivek admitted to promoting Ozempic smuggled through Egypt with out correct labelling and MRP.
“Ozempic is priced at Rs 23,000 for one (pack of) injection,” Vivek stated.
“What number of doses in it?” the reporter inquired.
“One injection carries 4 doses. We promote 2-3 items each day. It’s procured totally on order and it’s not saved in inventory. It carries the Egypt MRP, not the Indian MRP,” Vivek replied.
Manish at Maggu pharmaceutical retailer at Bhagirath Palace provided quite a lot of Ozempic at Rs 17,000 per injection.
“Will you be having Ozempic injections?” the reporter probed.
“It’s priced at Rs 17,000,” Manish replied, agreeing to produce 5 of them with out an bill.
REGULATORY APPROVALS IN US
The American drug regulator permitted Ozempic for diabetes remedy in 2017, with a higher-dose variant permitted in 2021 below the model Wegovy for weight problems remedy.
Nevertheless, Mounjaro, additionally permitted for diabetes, is commonly used off-label for weight reduction.
These drugs have frequent uncomfortable side effects, primarily gastrointestinal points.
Dr Ambrish Mithal, Head of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Max Healthcare, cautioned in opposition to using these medication with out correct medical supervision, emphasising the dangers related to unauthorised procurement and off-label use.
NOT OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE IN INDIA
“The necessary half right here is that the medication you talked about Wegovy, Ozempic or Mounjaro, are usually not but formally out there in India, and that is fairly necessary for us to know,” stated Dr Mithal. “So that you shouldn’t be selecting these medication since you’re chubby and need to shed weight. You’ll be able to then return to your specialist, return to the endocrinologist, and return to your physician and ask ‘are these medication appropriate for me?’”
Stories of counterfeit variations of those drugs have additional raised considerations, prompting warnings from well being authorities and drugmakers in numerous elements of the world.
“They’ll trigger vital nausea in lots of sufferers. Generally vomiting. Now, the opposite factor is that if somebody has a historical past of pancreatitis, that particular person shouldn’t be making an attempt to take these medication. Somebody with a historical past of any thyroid most cancers, dietary nodule must also not be taking these medication,” Dr Mithal stated.