Novo Nordisk is launching a cheaper authorised version of its blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic in South Africa, intensifying its fight against unregulated compounded medicines, lower-cost generics and Eli Lilly’s fast-growing Mounjaro.
Novo Nordisk will launch a lower-cost authorised version of Ozempic in South Africa on July 27.
The rollout follows its court victory against a pharmacy accused of producing unregistered semaglutide medicines at scale.
Novo is also facing stronger competition from Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and a newly approved generic from India’s Sun Pharma.
South Africa’s GLP-1 market has tripled in 18 months to about $134 million as demand for diabetes and obesity treatments rises.
The Danish drugmaker said the product, called Extensior, would become available on July 27 through a partnership with Swiss pharmaceutical company Acino.
Extensior contains semaglutide, the same active ingredient used in Ozempic, and will be sold in the same 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg and 1 mg doses.
Unlike a conventional generic, the authorised copy is made by Novo Nordisk using the same active ingredient, production process and injection device as Ozempic but marketed under a different name.
Novo has not disclosed the price. Sara Norcross, general manager of Novo Nordisk South Africa, told Reuters that the company would announce pricing before the launch but confirmed that Extensior would cost less than branded semaglutide for type 2 diabetes.
The rollout could expand access to semaglutide in South Africa, where the high cost of GLP-1 medicines has pushed some patients towards cheaper compounded products sold outside conventional pharmaceutical supply chains.
However, the timing also suggests that Novo is moving quickly to defend its position in a market being reshaped by regulatory action, patent expiry and new competitors.
Extensior’s launch comes weeks after Novo Nordisk secured an interim order from the Gauteng High Court preventing South African pharmacy group iDexis from manufacturing, marketing and selling compounded semaglutide medicines.
Novo accused iDexis of producing unregistered semaglutide products on a commercial scale and operating outside the exemptions that allow pharmacists to prepare medicines for individual patients.
The court ruled in June that the pharmacy should stop producing the medicines while investigations by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority and the South African Pharmacy Council continued. Novo alleged that iDexis had been producing about 84,500 units monthly.
South African law permits compounding for the specific needs of individual patients but does not allow pharmacies to use the exemption for large-scale commercial manufacturing.
Regulators said a May inspection of iDexis uncovered serious compliance failures involving semaglutide, tirzepatide and combination GLP-1 medicines. The products found at the site were seized, while authorities later ordered their recall.
