Ozempic generic price in focus as semaglutide patents expire in India, Brazil and Canada

Why Novo Nordisk is signing new deals

Novo Nordisk, the Danish company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, has agreed several licensing and partnership deals for new weight-loss and cardiometabolic treatments. Chemistry World reported on 7 October 2026 that the deals could be worth more than £4 billion in total. The publication described the activity as a likely attempt to limit expected revenue losses as semaglutide patents expire.

The report notes that semaglutide is marketed as Wegovy for weight loss and as Ozempic for diabetes.

According to the same report, Novo Nordisk earned more than 90% of its 2025 sales from diabetes and obesity treatments, a total of DKK290 billion (about £33 billion). The company has already lost patent protection for semaglutide in India, Brazil and Canada, and patents in its key markets of Europe and the US are expected to expire in the 2030s.

What the deals cover

Chemistry World set out three recent agreements:

• Hengrui Pharma: Novo Nordisk licensed a once-weekly oral GLP-1 drug from the Chinese company for up to $2.6 billion. The drug is ready to begin phase 1 trials. Novo Nordisk may develop and manufacture it globally, except in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
• Nanexa: a deal worth up to €1.2 billion to combine Nanexa's long-acting injectable technology with Novo Nordisk's weight-loss and type 2 diabetes medicines. According to the report, this could allow monthly rather than weekly injections.
• Orbis Medicines: a partnership worth up to $1.4 billion, agreed in September, to develop oral therapies for a range of cardiometabolic diseases.

The report also says Novo Nordisk has started a restructuring programme that involves cutting thousands of jobs, with the aim of saving around £1 billion a year in costs. A company spokesperson told the publication that the recent deals fit its long-term business development strategy. The spokesperson declined to comment further on individual agreements.

What generics have meant for prices elsewhere

An analysis published in The BMJ on 4 September 2026 described cost as a major drawback of GLP-1 weight-loss medicines. It said generic versions, which should be significantly cheaper than the patented originals, are entering the market as early patents expire.

The BMJ identified India as the main source of generic GLP-1 medicines. Naveed Sattar, professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, told the journal that more than 50 companies in India may be involved in making semaglutide. He said prices depend on the format:

• generic semaglutide in vials tends to be cheaper
• customised pens cost more
• pens made by Novo Nordisk cost more again
• packages that include support services, such as nutritional guidance and behavioural counselling, also add to the price

Even so, Sattar told The BMJ that costs are substantially lower than before, so more people should be able to afford the medicines.

In the UK, Barbara McGowan, professor of endocrinology and diabetes at King's College London, told The BMJ that generics may widen access in the NHS, where access is currently very restricted.

What this means for South African readers

The reports deal with India, Brazil, Canada, the UK, Europe and the US. They give no South African timeline and no rand prices. In South Africa, SAHPRA has registered Semagard, a semaglutide pen from Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals for adults with type 2 diabetes, in the same 2 mg and 4 mg pens as Ozempic. Its single exit price from 1 October 2026 is R1 194.44 for the 2 mg pen and R2 388.89 for the 4 mg pen, against R1 479.18 and R2 958.38 for Ozempic. Like Ozempic, it needs a prescription.

A cheaper generic is a medicine approved by a regulator. That is different from unregistered products, compounded copies or so-called research peptides, which this site does not recommend.

Readers comparing how registered pharmacies handle semaglutide prescriptions, delivery and support can use the South African semaglutide pharmacy rating. Current Ozempic and Wegovy prices for every pen are on our price page, and newer medicines that are not registered in South Africa, such as retatrutide, are covered in our retatrutide guide. Nothing in this article is medical advice. Decisions about starting, stopping or changing any medicine belong with a doctor or pharmacist. See the medical disclaimer for more.